X 



W P MMI i» i| 



THE -YOUNG- FARMER'S 




Tfom. 

RITCHENTO 

G>IF^IVET 

VIRGINIA V^N DE W-^TEIi 





Class _T_l3_2_l 

Book . 

Copyright K° 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY 

EDITED BY ERNEST INGERSOLL 



FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

BY 

VIRGINIA TERHUNE VAN DE WATER 



The Young Farmer^s Practical 
Library 

EDITED BY ERNEST INGERSOLL 

Cloth i6mo Illustrated 75 cents net each. 

From Kitchen to Garret. By Virginia 
Terhune Van de Water. 

Neighborhood Entertainments. By Renee 

B. Stern, of the Congressional Library. 

Home Waterworks. By Carleton J. 
Lynde, Professor of Physics in Mac- 
donald College, Quebec. 

The Farm Mechanic. By L. W. Chase, 
Professor of Farm Mechanics in the 
University of Nebraska. 

The Satisfactions of Country Life. By 

Dr. Tames W. Robertson, Principal of 
Macdonald College, Quebec. 

Roads, Paths and Bridges. By L. W. 

Page, Chief of the Office of Public 
Roads, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

Health on the Farm. By Dr. L, F. 

Harris, Secretary Georgia State Board 
of Health. 

Farm Machinery. By J. B. Davidson, 
Professor of Agricultural Engineering in 
Iowa State College. 

Electricity on the Farm. 




By permission, from "The Craftsman." 

ENTRANCE PORCH 



FROM 

KITCHEN TO GARRET 



BY 
VIRGINIA TERHUNE VAN DE WATER 



AND HIS WIFE," ETC., ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 



"Hew ffiorft 

STURGIS & WALTON 

COMPANY 

1910 






Copyright, 1910 
By STURGIS & WALTON COMPANY 



Set up and electrotyped. Published May, 1910 



€CI.A268173 



;fv' 



TO MY MOTHER, 

MARION HARLAND, 

WHO, BY PRECEPT AND EXAMPLE, 

HAS TAUGHT ME ALL THAT I KNOW OP 

HOUSEKEEPING AND HOME-MAKING, 

THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS 

DEDICATED 



INTEODUCTION 

BY THE GENEEAL EDITOB 

This is the day of the small book. There is 
much to be done. Time is short. Information 
is earnestly desired, but it is wanted in compact 
form, confined directly to the subject in view, 
authenticated by real knowledge, and, withal, 
gracefully delivered. It is to fulfill these con- 
ditions that the present series has been pro- 
jected — to lend real assistance to those who are 
looking about for new tools and fresh ideas. 

It is addressed especially to the man and 
woman at a distance from the libraries, exhibi- 
tions, and daily notes of progress, which are 
the main advantage, to a studious mind, of liv- 
ing in or near a large city. The editor has had 
in view, especially, the farmer and villager 
who is striving to make the life of himself and 
his family broader and brighter, as well as to 
increase his bank account; and it is therefore 
in the humane, rather than in a commercial di- 
rection, that the Library has been planned. 

vii 



viii INTEODUCTION 

The average American little needs advice on 
the conduct of his farm or business ; or, if he 
thinks he does, a large supply of such help in 
farming and trading as books and periodicals 
can give, is available to him. But many a man 
who is well to do and knows how to continue 
to make money, is ignorant how to spend it in 
a way to bring to himself, and confer upon his 
wife and children, those conveniences, comforts 
and niceties which alone make money worth 
acquiring and life worth living. He hardly 
realizes that they are within his reach. 

For suggestion and guidance in this direction 
there is a real call, to which this series is an 
answer. It proposes to tell its readers how 
they can make work easier, health more secure, 
and the home more enjoyable and tenacious 
of the whole family. No evil in American rural 
life is so great as the tendency of the young 
people to leave the farm and the village. The 
only way to overcome this evil is to make rural 
life less hard and sordid; more comfortable and 
attractive. It is to the solving of that problem 
that these books are addressed. Their central 
idea is to show how country life may be made 



INTEODUCTION ix 

richer in interest, broader in its activities and 
its outlook, and sweeter to the taste. 

To this end men and women who have given 
each a lifetime of study and thought to his or 
her speciality, will contribute to the Library, 
and it is safe to promise that each volume will 
join with its eminently practical information a 
still more valuable stimulation of thought. 

Ernest Ingersoll. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. A Heart-to -Heart Talk With the Housewife 3 

II. The Kitchen 10 

III. The Kitchen Pantry 34 

IV. The Cellar 46 

V. The Dining-Room 58 

VI. The Living-Room 69 

VII. The Bedroom 88 

VIII. The Guest-Chambeb 110 

IX. The Nursery 120 

X. The Boys' Room 143 

XI. The Bath Room 153 

XII. The Garret 172 

XIII. Closets 190 

XIV. The Servant in the House 216 

XV. House-Cleaning 238 

XVI. " The Soul of Wealth " 248 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Entrance Porch Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Porch 8 

Dining Eoom 58 

Living Room e . . 70 

Bedroom 88 

Bedroom 110 

Living Room 144 

Entrance Hall and Stairway 216 



FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET. 



FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

CHAPTEE I 

A HEART-TO-HEAET TALK WITH THE HOUSEWIFE 

Befoke starting upon our tour of the house, 
beginning with kitchen and cellar, and proceed- 
ing through other rooms on our trip of inspec- 
tion and of suggestion, I want to have a little 
informal chat with my reader and try to make 
her appreciate how deeply I am interested in 
the work that is hers. I want her also to know 
that I consider her calling (for we may give 
it that name as justly as if it were a learned 
profession) one of the most important in the 
world. People may sneer at the work of the 
house as if it counted for little. I do not think 
that I exaggerate when I claim that the health, 
the happiness, and, often, the very morals of 
the family, depend on the way that the house 
in which they are lodged and fed is conducted. 

3 



4 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

The house-mother herself makes a sad error 
when she speaks of her duties as ^ ignoble 
tasks." There are few nobler. Next to the 
care of her children should come the care of her 
home, and proper attention to the one involves 
intelligent care of the other. To her has been 
committed the responsibility of what may be 
in the fullest sense of the beautiful word a 
home, — not simply a place where people eat 
and sleep. 

To fulfill her calling properly, she must have 
system in everything. This is essential if she 
would avoid the hustle and bustle that men hate 
and children dread. A place for each article 
and every article in its place ; a time for every- 
thing, and everything done on time, is a state of 
affairs for which she should work and plan, 
but not to the exclusion of all other considera- 
tions. She should manage her system, not al- 
low the system to manage her. If each duty 
does not dovetail with the next it is not a do- 
mestic tragedy, although some women regard 
it as such. 

And right here is where I want to put up a 
danger-signal for my sisters. The woman who 



A HEAET-TO-HEAET TALK 5 

cares for her house too often allows herself to 
look so long at the duties that she does not see 
what they stand for. They should mean neat- 
ness, to be sure, but they must also mean peace, 
comfort, homelikeness, — and when the spirit of 
fretfulness and irritability enters in the duties 
become degrading. Then, and only then, is 
housework ignoble. Otherwise it is as impor- 
tant and as ennobling as the work that takes the 
physician on his round of duties or keeps the 
trained nurse faithful to her patient. I wish I 
could make all women feel this, or, as they say 
up in New England, ^ ^ sense '^ the deep signifi- 
cance of her home tasks. But she should al- 
ways be their mistress, and not become their 
slave. 

Some of my readers may smile and wonder 
how one can avoid the condition of affairs 
about which I utter this foreword of warning. 
There are many ways. 

First of all, as I have intimated, is System. 
Duties done in any way, at any time, are never 
well done, and seldom are cleared up and out 
of the way. I once had a maid who worked all 
the time, and hard, and yet I was puzzled that, 



6 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

although she was weary when night came on, 
her work was never entirely finished. One day 
I watched her to see what the trouble was. 
First she began to clear away the breakfast 
dishes. Before half of them were removed she 
remembered that the fire in the kitchen was low 
and ran out to add more fuel to it. As she 
reached the range she noticed that it was dull, 
and decided that now that the stove was cool she 
would polish it. This she proceeded to do, 
then, starting for a scuttle of coal, she saw the 
milk, which had not been put away as soon as it 
came, standing on the pantry table. Setting 
down the scuttle, she stopped to pour the milk 
into pans, and, by that time, she recalled the 
fact that the dining-room table was not yet 
cleared, and ran off to carry out the rest of the 
dishes. When she had done this the range 
fire was out and had to be rebuilt. 

And so matters went from hour to hour. I 
had discovered what the trouble was. She had 
never learned System. To do thoroughly each 
duty in the time allotted for it is to simplify 
work. Had the milk been put away as soon as 
it was brought into the house, that bit of work 



A HEART-TO-HEAET TALK 7 

would have been out of the way. Had the 
stove been polished before the fire was built, 
it would have been shining bright at a later 
hour, and, when the coal scuttle was emptied, 
had it been refilled, there would have been no 
necessity for stopping the clearing away of the 
dishes to run to the cellar for fuel. 

Another way to avoid the tyranny of house- 
work is not to attempt too elaborate a schedule. 
By this I mean do not attempt to seem to live 
beyond your means. There lies a pitfall to the 
American householder. What has been called 
^^even-threaded living'^ should be striven after. 
Do not have plain fare six days in the week and 
^^put the big pot in the little one'' on the 
seventh day when you expect company. Have 
for the family such good food that your friends 
may always find you at your best. 

*^But,'' protests some woman whose purse 
is emaciated, ^^my means will not allow me to 
live everyday as I want to live when I have 
company.'' 

To which I reply, without hesitation,— 
*^What is good enough for your husband and 
children is good enough for your guests." 



8 FROM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

It was once my good fortune to make a little 
visit in a farmhouse where the family '4ived 
plainly/' I wish now that I might repeat the 
experience. Breakfast in the morning con- 
sisted of good buckwheat cakes and delicious 
coffee, — for the weather was bitter cold. At 
noon, a nourishing broth, with an abundance 
of light bread and sweet butter, followed by a 
substantial dessert and coffee would be set be- 
fore us one day; the next, the dinner might con- 
sist of meat and two vegetables, and coffee. 
But the suppers were my delight, and yet they 
were often but a bowl of smoking hot mush with 
a glass of milk and a pitcher of cream, and tea, 
or coffee, and cake. Plain? Yes, but so dain- 
tily served, so perfectly prepared, that the city- 
dweller thanked the kind fortune which had 
made it possible for her to visit in a home where 
she was fed as if she were ^'one of the family. '^ 

If your income will not allow you to live in 
any but the plainest way, do not be ashamed 
of it, but have the food that you can afford as 
well cooked and served as possible, and then 
set it before your friends with the cordial wel- 
come that is the perfect sauce. Pretense is 




xn 



A HEART-TO-HEAET TALK 9 

always ridiculous; honest simplicity is always 
admirable. If there are people who would 
despise your manner of living, your home is too 
sacred for you to receive them there. 

But lack of means does not mean lack of 
dainty appointments. In this day of cheap 
chinas there is little excuse for ugly, cumber- 
some dishes, for prettily decorated ware can be 
bought at little expense. The same is true 
of many of the other housekeeping appoint- 
ments upon which we will talk later. If linen 
cannot be fine, it may be well washed and 
ironed; if one cannot have costly rugs, those 
made of home-sewed rag-carpeting may be in 
good colors, and well shaken and brushed. Do 
not be afraid of the graceful pretty touches in 
your household. A plant of blooming gera- 
nium will give elegance to the plainest table. 

Above all else, remember what the Apostle 
Paul says about magnifying his office, and mag- 
nify yours! You cannot fail to do this when 
you pause to appreciate that you are the cap- 
tain of the craft, and that the entire crew look 
to you for guidance, for food, for rest, and for 
the mothering that makes of a house a HOME. 



CHAPTER II 



THE KITCHEN 



The kitchen may well be called the heart of 
the home, as from it go the streams of life that 
sustain the various members of the family. 

The women of generations back spent much 
of their time in their kitchens. In this day we 
may marvel at this fact, but if one has once 
seen the huge kitchen of an old New England 
homestead the wonder vanishes. As a child I 
was permitted a glimpse at such a room, for 
up in the Massachusetts mountains the owner 
of this old farm held to the traditions of her 
grandparents. The room had four windows, 
the sills of which were lined with blooming 
plants. The hard floor was painted a light yel- 
low, and there was not a speck of dust to be 
seen upon it. Eockers and a settee added to 
the comfortable appearance of the apartment, 
while on the walls hung copper and tin utensils 

10 



THE KITCHEN 11 

shining as if they were new. Old blue china, 
that would have filled a collector's heart with 
envy, graced the shelves. Here the farmer and 
his wife ate their meals, and, at night, after 
supper, the husband sat at the fireside and 
smoked his pipe while his better half ^^ cleared 
up." This task accomplished she drew her 
rocker to the side of the table on which rested 
the lamp and took up her knitting. 

In these days we have changed all that sort 
of thing, and the kitchen is the room in which 
the cooking is done, and in which the pots and 
pans are washed. In many ways the modern 
plan is an improvement on the old, for now 
when crullers and doughnuts, or griddle cakes 
and sausage, are fried, the garments of the 
entire family do not reek with the odor of cold 
grease for the next three days. 

But the kitchen should still be cheerful. To 
this end have the walls of a light color, and 
painted. They can then be scrubbed as easily 
as if they were marble or stone. A pale yellow 
is a satisfactory finish, as it always looks clean, 
and does not fade as do blues and greens. 

The subject of the kitchen floor is one that 



12 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

has been much discussed, as housewives differ 
as to the best way to treat it. Some hold that 
painted boards are entirely satisfactory, while 
others claim, justly, that they cannot be 
thoroughly cleansed without a great deal of 
effort. I think these last contestants are right, 
for, unless a board is of hard wood, grease will 
soak into it, it will occasionally splinter off, 
and there are sure to be cracks in which dirt 
accumulates. Mopping will not remove this 
dirt; one must attack it on one's knees with a 
scrubbing-brush, a task from which one often 
rises with an ugly splinter under the finger- 
nail or imbedded in the flesh. 

So, when possible, cover the kitchen floor 
with linoleum. Since this is not a cheap article 
get an excellent quality while you are buying 
it. It is better to pay a good price in the be- 
ginning than to have to renew the covering 
within two years' time. Do not tack the lino- 
leum down, unless there are certain corners 
which are in such a position that they will get 
turned up. In that case, put a single tack in 
each of these vulnerable points. The linoleum 
is so heavy that it will lie flat without nailing, 



THE KITCHEN 13 

and can then be taken up when the houseclean- 
ing time comes, and the floor beneath it can be 
thoroughly cleansed. 

Of course, if one feels one cannot afford 
linoleum, one must choose between oilcloth and 
paint. I should advocate the latter. I acknowl- 
edge that it is a nuisance to have the paint re- 
newed each Spring, but, on the other hand, oil- 
cloth wears through in unsightly holes, and 
when it becomes shabby is very shabby indeed. 
If you must have paint, have a carpenter plane 
off the rough boards, getting them as smooth 
as possible. Then paint the floor. For this 
purpose the same light yellow I suggested for 
the walls is good. Make some arrangement 
by which the paint may not be trodden on until 
entirely dry. I emphasize this bit of advice, 
having seen too often a floor which was walked 
on before it was quite dry, and on which there 
were always afterward marks which looked like 
dirt, but could not be scrubbed off. Let the 
family reconcile itself to dispense with much 
cooking while the floor is wet, and have only 
one person do the work at the range, etc. Lay 
boards from doors to range and sink until the 



14 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

paint is so hard that there is not the least feel- 
ing of stickiness about it. Even then it is well 
to allow a day longer than seems necessary to 
make assurance doubly sure. 

"When the floor is once in good condition 
keep it so, and insist that others do the same. 
There is no more reason why muddy boots 
should be allowed in the kitchen than in the 
parlors or bedrooms. Have a large door mat 
outside of the kitchen door, just as you do at 
the front door, and provide the step with an 
old-fashioned iron scraper with which the 
rough mud may be removed before the mat is 
used. This is one of the little ways of keep- 
ing a house clean that many housekeepers dis- 
regard. 

Have rugs for your kitchen. These may be 
simply strips of carpet, bound at each end. Not 
only will they protect the floor, but they make 
standing easier for the worker. Try standing 
for ten minutes on a bare board instead of upon 
a piece of carpet and you will see the force of 
my argument. Have a strip of carpet, or a 
home-made rag-rug in front of the range, an- 
other by the sink, and a third in front of the 



THE KITCHEN 15 

table at which mixing and rolling-out are done. 
It is right and proper that these bits of carpet- 
ing should be of cheap material, for when they 
wear into holes they must be renewed. Mean- 
while they may be cleaned, when soiled by 
bits of grease in which the dust has settled. 
To clean them dip a brush in hot ammonia-and- 
water, rub soap on it, and scrub the rugs as 
you would a board. When thoroughly wet, and 
well-soaked with the lather and ammonia-water, 
throw them into the tub, cover with warm 
water, and leave for ten minutes. Now 
^' souse'' them up and down to wash out the 
dirt and suds, cover with clean water, rinse in 
the same way, and hang out of doors to dry. 

If the kitchen is large enough, have two 
tables. One of these may be used for mixing, 
preparing vegetables, etc., and should be cov- 
ered with zinc. Tables come for this purpose 
already covered, but you can tack a sheet of 
zinc over your old table, and the result will be 
as good. This zinc can be washed as easily as 
can a dish or pan. 

Try to have your mixing-table fitted with a 
large drawer. In this keep the smaller iron 



16 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

or agate spoons, forks, knives, and other imple- 
ments which will probably be needed while you 
are at work. Over the table, on the wall, tack 
a strip of wood, and fit this out with screw- 
hooks from which may hang the long-handled 
spoons, egg-beaters, bread-knives, etc. It is 
wonderful how many steps a busy woman must 
take when she has to cross the room every time 
she wants a spoon, fork or knife. The table- 
drawer may also contain the little articles used 
for fancy cooking, such as apple-corers, jag- 
ging-irons, and pastry tubes. 

For use at the mixing-table have a chair upon 
which you can sit while you beat cake, or 
muffins, or prepare vegetables. I know some 
women claim that they cannot work as well sit- 
ting down. But this is a matter of habit, and 
one should accustom one's self to doing the 
work I mention sitting down. * In the long run 
it will mean money in your pocket, and fewer 
greenbacks in the physician's wallet. I ac- 
knowledge that it is well-nigh impossible to roll 
out dough and pastry without standing up, but 
there are countless other bits of work that can 
be accomplished from one's chair. If you 



THE KITCHEN 17 

wish, you may have a plain chair, with long 
legs, made for this purpose. One housewife 
had the arms cut from her child ^s discarded 
high chair, and used this at her kitchen table 
while she beat, peeled and mixed. 

Have a meat-grinder screwed on to one end 
of your table. There are few articles of food 
which cannot be put through one of these grind- 
ers or choppers with as good results as if 
chopped with the old-fashioned chopping-knife 
in a wooden bowl. The new method is 
thorough, rapid and satisfactory. It is cer- 
tainly a time and muscle-saver. As there are 
various adjustments for the meat-chopper, it 
may often take the place of a grater, 

It may be well to mention some of the cases 
in which it may be used, thus saving time and 
strength for the housewife, as when chopping 
meat for hash, Hamburg steaks and mince- 
meat ; chopping apples for mincemeat and pud- 
dings; preparing suet for the same purpose; 
grinding cocoanut after it is peeled, and thus 
doing away with the misery of grated finger- 
tips; grinding cheese for Welsh rabbits, and 
chocolate for cakes and bonbons. In my own 



18 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

family it is used for reducing stale bread, dried 
in the oven, to fine crumbs to be used in bread- 
ing chops, cutlets, oysters, and croquettes. 

As to the other table, keep this covered when 
not in use with a pretty, bright-colored cloth. 
Upon this table may be set the dishes brought 
out of the dining-room before meals, and after 
m.eals, and while courses are being changed. It 
takes in the kitchen the same place that the 
sideboard or serving-table does in the dining- 
room. 

While we are dealing with the furniture of 
the kitchen I want to put in a plea for a rock- 
ing-chair and footstool. Does this seem un- 
necessary? If you, my reader, have ever 
indulged in the luxury of dropping into a big 
rocker, and putting your tired feet on the foot- 
stool in front of it for five minutes while wait- 
ing for the biscuit to brown, or the custard to 
*^set" in the oven, you know why I advocate it. 
There are many ^'between-times'' in which a 
rocker means a snatch of a much-needed rest. 
One woman has an easy chair in her spacious 
kitchen, and near it is a small stand holding 
some bit of reading-matter. While the bread 



THE KITCHEN 19 

is baking, or the vegetables are boiling, the 
busy house-mother leans back in comfort and 
garners sundry bits of information. At such 
times many a woman would stand in front of 
the hot range, waiting blankly for the '^things 
to coof 

Perhaps the strenuous sister will think that 
I advocate too much ease. But I have learned 
that we women need to conserve our physical 
strength if we would give of our best to those 
who need us. The pot will boil just as well if 
you sit down and look at a book instead of 
watching it. The effect upon your nerves and 
muscles is that of needful relaxation. Then 
why not accustom yourself to doing things in 
the easiest way, when this way does not inter- 
fere with the excellency of the work? 

If you must have sash curtains at the kitchen 
windows, let them be of the plainest and most- 
easily-washed materials. Personally I do not 
approve of even short curtains in the kitchen. 
To my way of thinking they hold odors and are 
not neat. Try to be satisfied with dark green 
Holland shades, which can be pulled down and 
rolled up at will. 



20 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

I am taking it for granted that you have run- 
ning water in your kitchen sink. In this day 
of modern improvements, even the country- 
dweller knows the luxury of plumbing in his 
house. If there are some homes that do not 
have it, they are, nevertheless, fitted out with 
a pump at the kitchen-sink, and the days when 
pails of water had to be carried in from the well 
are, happily, things of the past. 

If there are stationary tubs in the kitchen, 
they will, of course, be fitted with covers, and 
these, too, may be used as a table. In this 
case, if the room be small, one can dispense 
with the second table suggested above. 

Every kitchen should have a large closet. 
Failing this, wide shelves must be put along 
one side of the room. If one has a husband 
or son with a knack for carpenter-work, he can 
make at small expense enclosed shelves with 
sliding glass doors for holding the china and 
glass required in the kitchen. On these shelves 
may also go earthen mixing-bowls, china pud- 
ding-dishes, measuring-glasses, and various 
articles made of crockery. The other utensils 



THE KITCHEN 21 

should be on the pantry-shelves, with which we 
will deal later. 

^^Oh," sighed a housewife on entering a 
pretty, new kitchen, ^4f it could only look like 
this always ! ' ^ 

It can, — if the housekeeper does her own 
work. Try to establish the habit of keeping 
clean after getting clean. The average servant 
has a tremendous upheaval in her domain once 
in so often, at which time she washes and 
scrubs pans, polishes kettles, and gets every- 
thing in what she calls ^'spick-and-span'^ shape. 
Then she straightway gets all the articles she 
uses just as dingy and dull as they were before. 
Take care of each utensil as soon as you have 
finished with it. I know one farm-house in 
which the great copper kettle shines as if just 
burnished. When I first saw it I thought it 
was new, but after seeing it in the same state 
of polish for a year, I took the liberty of ask- 
ing the owner how she ''kept it looking like 
new. ' ' "By never allowing it to get dull, ' ' was 
the reply. "When I went to housekeeping over 
forty years ago I determined that my kitchen 



22 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

and its contents should never get dingy. So I 
polish each article as soon as I have finished 
using it. ' ^ 

Looking about me I could believe it. It re- 
quires but a minute to wash the stains of smoke 
from the kettle, and to *^ shine" it with a bit of 
flannel dipped in whiting, and the result is 
worth the extra trouble. 

The care of your range is one of those 
things which must not be neglected. A good 
fire cannot be built on a foundation of ashes 
and dead coals. Make a rule of emptying the 
pan under the grate each morning, or, if the 
fire is entirely out when you go to bed, empty 
the pan then. Wear gloves in doing this, — 
large, loose rubber gloves, or old kid ones be- 
longing to some man of the family. Do not 
consider it wasted time to pull these on. The 
protected hands will be the whiter in conse- 
quence. Wear gloves also in blacking your 
stove, and in handling wood and coal. 

Clean the range before lighting the fire. 
This done each morning, the work of ^^polish- 
ing" will not be hard. Proceed in a systematic 
way to lay the fire. In the bottom of the grate 



THE KITCHEN 23 

put an abundance of rumpled paper, but not 
so mucli that it will pack as it burns. On this 
lay a generous supply of dry kindling. Open 
all the draughts, and touch a match to the pa- 
per. Leave the fire alone for about five min- 
utes, or until the wood is burning briskly, then 
pour on gently a half-scuttle of coal. Your 
range should need no more attention for fifteen 
or twenty minutes, then, if it is very hot, the 
draughts may be closed. When the coal is all 
red, add a little more, and keep the draughts 
closed that the fire may not burn too quickly. 
The unthinking person wastes much coal. 
The range will cook better and the fire will be 
brighter if the fuel is not heaped up to the level 
of the lids. Have it only as high as the top of 
the brick lining of the range. Watch the fire, 
and when coal is needed, add a little, shutting 
off all dampers when the heat is not required, 
and opening them only when the ovens are in 
use, or the blaze is too low. Each range must 
be studied by the person managing it until she 
learns which dampers throw heat into the ovens 
and which send it up the chimney. 
Kitchen windows must be carefully wiped off 



24 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

every week, as the steam accumulating on them 
clouds them. 

Burn all the garbage that cannot be used for 
feeding the chickens and pigs. Such are 
orange-peels, tea-leaves, coffee-grounds and 
egg-shells. It is a good plan to have a large 
pan in which such refuse from each meal is 
placed. The pan is then put in the oven until 
the contents become thoroughly- dried, after 
which they can be burned in range or furnace, 
care being taken to open all the draughts that 
the odor may be carried upward and not poured 
forth through the house. 

Another excellent way of disposing of worth- 
less garbage is to have dug at some distance 
from the house a trench, — from four to five feet 
deep, and as long as space will permit. Into 
this throw the garbage, cover with dirt, and 
leave it to rot and ^^ season'^ until next year, 
when it will make a valuable fertilizer. 

The obnoxious ^^garbage-paiP' should not be 
allowed to stand at the side of the kitchen door 
hour after hour, as is the custom in many 
houses. Have a pail with a closely-fitting 
cover, set it under the sink, line it with newspa- 



THE KITCHEN 25 

per, and empty it twice a day, throwing wash- 
ing soda into the water with which it is rinsed. 
The garbage-pail is one of the articles which at- 
tract flies in summer, and the odors from the 
decaying vegetable-matter are likely to produce 
illness, — to say nothing of the unsightliness and 
untidiness of such a pail standing about in 
plain sight. 

And while we are mentioning flies it may be 
well to pause and consider how we are to 
keep our kitchens free from the obnoxious in- 
sects. 

First of all have the windows and doors well- 
screened. Do not wait until the flies are really 
with you to have these screens put in after the 
winter stowing-away in attic or barn, but have 
them in place by the time the blossoms are well 
out in the orchard, and keep them in until the 
pests have been killed by frost. Next, keep 
food covered or put away except when it is 
being prepared or eaten. It takes but little 
exertion to cover the sugar cannister and re- 
turn it to the pantry-shelves as soon as you 
have taken out what is needed for the cake you 
are preparing. And in doing this you are re- 



26 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

moving one more temptation from the path of 
the fly. After the pots and pans are washed, 
and the kitchen brushed up, place sheets of 
sticky fly-paper on each table, and make the 
room dark. Have strong springs on the screen- 
doors and never allow anyone to prop them 
open for even a few minutes. "When one re- 
members the diseases that flies carry on their 
feet, when one reflects upon the filthy articles 
on which they light before they enter a dainty 
kitchen, the thought is nauseating and fills one 
with a determination to fight the pests. Ee- 
member that typhoid fever may come in with 
any and every house-fly. 

If, through some over-sight, flies invade your 
domain, attack them with murderous intent. 
Purchase the strongest Persian insect powder 
you can get. At night, after your kitchen is 
spick and span, and not a crumb is to be found 
by the most determined fly, fill insect-powder 
bellows with the ammunition, and proceed to 
blow it into every crack and corner of the room. 
Close pantry and closet doors before doing this. 
Sprinkle the powder on the floor and furniture, 
and about and in the sink. Put it even on top 



THE KITCHEN 27 

of the range. Then retire quietly, leaving the 
room shut up as tight as windows and doors can 
make it. Early the next morning let in enough 
light, — but no air, — to allow you to see clearly, 
and, covering your hair with a dust-cap, brush 
up carefully all the powder. With a soft brush 
sweep it from all the furniture to the floor, and 
from there gather it up with the many un- 
conscious flies in it and burn every particle of 
it. To make sure that you do this, deposit the 
powder and flies in a newspaper, wrap this up 
carefully and put it in as foundation for your 
range fire. Do not trust to the seeming death 
of the flies. Often fresh air and light will re- 
suscitate them. The paper burned, throw open 
doors and windows, keeping the screens care- 
fully closed. I have known this plan to rid a 
fly-infested room with wonderful rapidity. If 
one treatment does not accomplish a complete 
extermination, repeat it the second night. 

Other pests that are sometimes found in the 
kitchen are ants and roaches, or water-bugs. 
The first do not necessarily mean that the 
house-wife is not careful to keep food out of 
their way, for they have a habit of appearing on 



28 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

the cleanest of pantry-shelves in the most un- 
provoked manner. Kerosene is one of the best 
exterminators for them. Wipe off the wood- 
work with a cloth soaked in kerosene, pour the 
oil in the cracks about the sink, and inject it 
into any cracks in the wood-work. Oil of 
sassafras is also obnoxious to ants, and they 
are supposed to dislike the odor of cloves. 
For this reason some people strew shelves with 
whole cloves. 

Another and more obstinate insect is the 
water-bug, or roach. Fortunately the remedy 
which is most obnoxious to him is easily pro- 
cured, as it is simple borax. But he will not 
yield his position to this chemical unless one 
perseveres in attacks upon him. Two parts 
borax and one part powdered sugar strewed in 
his haunts each night for a week or ten days, 
then repeated once a week, will banish him, — 
always supposing that there are no crumbs of 
food about that he can eat. If he finds no food 
he will eat the sugar and borax, and will die, — 
or run away. We do not care which he does, so 
long as he leaves the premises. 

In treating of the kitchen and its furnishings 



THE KITCHEN 29 

the tubs have been mentioned, for in many- 
houses there is no laundry. To the woman who 
does her own work a laundry apart from the 
kitchen is a doubtful benefit, as, — unless this 
room is supplied with a stove, — there are many 
steps to be taken and much heavy lifting to be 
done in carrying the clothes to the boiler on the 
range and from the range back to the tubs. 
Even when the laundry is supplied with a stove, 
this means the care of two fires, and the work 
is thereby made hard. 

I hope that most of my readers can afford 
to have a woman come in and do the washing 
each week, even if they themselves must take a 
hand at the ironing. But whether a house- 
keeper is her own laundress or not, it is well for 
her to know how to do washing, as it will help 
her in giving her directions or in preparing the 
clothes for the laundress. 

It makes the work of washing-day easier if the 
soiled articles are put to soak over-night. To 
do this properly, wet each article, rubbing into 
the most soiled places a good white soap. This 
process is applied only to white cotton and 
linen pieces, as colored clothes should not be 



30 FROM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

soaked over-night, and flannels would shrink if 
treated as I suggest. Put the soaped pieces 
in the tub, add a half-cup of household am- 
monia, and cover the clothes with luke-warm 
water. In the morning, drain off the water and 
throw the clothes into fresh hot water, and 
wash as usual. The soaking process will have 
^ loosened" the dirt and made it easier to re- 
move. Of course these white pieces should be 
boiled, after washing, but only for a few min- 
utes, as they will turn yellow if boiled too long. 
Always have the dirt well washed out before 
putting the clothes in the boiler. Eeturn to the 
tubs, wash in clear water, and, when the rinsing 
water shows no signs of cloudiness, transfer 
the cleansed articles to the blueing water. Do 
not allow your laundress — if you have one — 
to make this water too blue. This is often done 
to hide the yellowish tinge that proves that the 
linen has not been properly washed. From the 
blueing water, the pieces that are to be starched 
can go to the starch-pan, while the unstarched 
pieces are hung out on the line. 

The work of ironing always seems simple 
compared with washing clothes, as one is not 



THE KITCHEN 31 

dependent upon clear weather for satisfactory 
results. 

A rule that is so well-known that it should be 
regarded more carefully than it is, is that every 
piece of clothing must be well-aired and 
thoroughly dried before packing down in the 
basket to be put away on linen shelves, in bu- 
reau drawers or on closet shelves. The fact 
that clothes put away damp may become spotted 
with mildew carries less weight with the house- 
mother than does the thought that illness may 
follow upon sleeping between damp sheets or 
wearing clothing that is not perfectly dry. 

The washing of flannels is an art that few 
laundresses care to acquire. We are all too 
familiar with the sight of once white and soft 
flannels shrunk into thick, stiff shapes; and it 
is all unnecessary. 

Woolen articles should be soaked for several 
hours in soft luke-warm water. To the ordi- 
nary water add a little borax, in the proportion 
of a teaspoonful of the powder to each gallon 
of the liquid. At the end of several hours 
transfer the flannels to warm — never hot — 
water, and into this stir a little household am- 



32 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARKET 

monia. Make good suds of this water and a 
white soap, and wash the pieces between the 
hands, but rub no soap directly on the gar- 
ments. When all the dirt has been washed out, 
lay the clothes in clear water of the same tem- 
perature as that in which they have been 
washed. If this water does not take out all 
the suds, drain it off and add more of the same 
temperature. The last water should be per- 
fectly clear. Soap left in flannels makes them 
harsh and irritates the skin. Do not wring out 
the garments, but hang them in the outer air, — 
unless it is so cold that they will freeze, — and 
allow them to drip dry; while drying, it is a 
good plan to stretch them into shape from 
time to time. Do not iron until absolutely dry, 
then press with an iron that is not very 
hot. Some persons wearing ribbed woolen un- 
derwear prefer pulling and smoothing it with 
the hands to having it ironed. 

If one would make sure that delicately-col- 
ored clothing will not ^*run'^ or fade in wash- 
ing, she may soak it, — each piece by itself, — in 
cold water, to which ox-gall has been added in 
the proportion of a tablespoonful of the gall to 



THE KITCHEN 33 

a gallon of the water. Leave for some hours, 
or over-night, then wash in the usual way, ex- 
cept that colored clothes should not be boiled 
nor washed in the same water in which the 
white articles are washed. Always dry in the 
shade. 



CHAPTER III 

THE KITCHEN PAITTRY 

The kitchen and its pantry are so closely 
allied that they seem almost as one room. In 
the ideal pantry there is an abundance of space 
for all the pots and pans needed for cooking, 
and for the various utensils that will not go into 
the drawer of the mixing-table, or on the 
shelves of the kitchen cabinet or closet. 

There have been many lists given by various 
writers from which the housekeeper is sup- 
posed to order her kitchen necessities in the 
way of utensils. To the ordinary householder 
the number suggested is appalling. Some of 
the articles mentioned she has never heard of, 
others she does not know how to use, and some 
seem to her as labor-makers rather than labor- 
savers. To the initiated they may mean ease 
in cooking; to her, they stand for unnecessary 
complications. 

34 



THE KITCHEN PANTKY 35 

I will give a list of the ordinary utensils that 
it is well to have, and to this number the reader 
may add what she wishes. Some of those I 
name are necessities to successful cooking; 
others are simple aids to the housekeeper. 

Three double-boilers of varying sizes; three 
saucepans; an iron or agate soup-pot; a pre- 
serving kettle; two tea-kettles, — one large, one 
small; two coffee-pots; a griddle, — of soap- 
stone, if possible; a waflBe-iron; two frying- 
pans; a frying-basket, or a large, deep kettle 
for frying fritters, crullers and doughnuts; 
four pudding-dishes of different capacities ; six 
layer-cake tins ; two cake-tins, each with a fun- 
nel in the center; two loaf-cake tins; four 
bread-pans; a bread-raiser; a dozen muffin- 
rings ; eighteen small muffin-pans ; a dozen gem 
cups of earthenware; two pudding-moulds; 
two jelly-moulds ; two covered roasters or drip- 
ping-pans; a ham-boiler; an asparagus-boiler; 
two dish-pans, — one for pots and pans, the 
other for the china and glass ; two soup-strain- 
ers ; a colander ; a flour-sifter ; two cake-cutters ; 
a bread-knife; a large carver; a vegetable- 
knife; a long-handled flesh-fork; two long mix- 



36 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

ing-spoons; two short mixing-spoons; one 
egg- whip; one egg-beater; one vegetable-press; 
one meat-grinder ; three pie-plates ; one wooden 
spoon; one chopping-bowl ; a chopping-knif e ; a 
pastry or bread-board; four mixing-bowls; 
three quart bowls; a quart measure; a pint- 
measure; one large and one small pitcher; a 
cake-turner; a split spoon; a ladle; a can- 
opener; two graters; a nutmeg-grater; a roll- 
ing-pin ; two tin pails with covers ; two funnels ; 
a cork-screw; two gridirons or broilers. 

Of course this list does not include the knives, 
forks, spoons and crockery used in the kitchen. 
Nor have I mentioned the receptacles for hold- 
ing the sugar, salt, flour and spices, nor have I 
even named the various dish-cloths, towels, etc. 

I would like to advise the housewife never to 
allow the dish-towels to be used as dish-cloths. 
If she has a hireling to do her work she need 
not be surprised if they are used as floor-cloths ! 
Scrubbing-brush and mop, with the pail that 
goes with them, do not seem to satisfy Bridget or 
Dinah, and the towels are called into service at 
times to wipe up water or milk that is spilt on 
the floor when the floor-cloth is not ' ^ handy. ^^ 



THE KITCHEN PANTRY 37 

The washing of the pots and pans is, to my 
way of thinking, the most disagreeable part of 
housework. I wish I could persuade the 
woman who takes care of her own utensils al- 
ways to wear old gloves in washing them, or, as 
I have already advised, a pair of rubber gloves. 
There are times when the hands must be 
plunged into the water, and this process will 
redden and roughen them. But keep them out 
of the greasy water as much as possible, and, 
when you cannot do this, take the time and 
trouble to wear the gloves. What is known as 
an iron dish-cloth is a great convenience in 
scraping off grease and dirt. In one kitchen 
sand-paper is used to scrub the insides of pans 
and pots, and the result is excellent. Squares 
of this paper are hung on a ring at the side of 
the sink within easy reach. 

In a coming chapter on the dining-room 
I will deal more fully with the subject of dish- 
washing. But while we are talking of pots and 
pans I want to remind my reader that if she 
will run hot water into any utensil as soon as it 
is emptied, and put into it a spoonful of wash- 
ing soda and leave it until she has time to wash 



38 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

it, the dirt will come off much more easily than 
if it is allowed to dry on the tin or iron. 

Do not make the mistake of buying fine tow- 
eling for kitchen use. Select heavy linen, the 
gray or tan color edged with red or blue. It 
will wear better than will the soft quality that 
is suitable for glass or fine china. Wash the 
towels every day, throwing them into hot water 
to which ammonia has been added, and soaking 
for an hour before washing. Get out all the 
grease, then boil for a few minutes, rinse again 
and hang in the sunshine to dry. Never allow 
the soiled dish-towels to accumulate to a goodly 
number before rinsing. If you have not time 
to iron them, at least wash them. 

The shelves on one side of the pantry may be 
kept for eatables in tins and wooden boxes. If 
one keeps a servant, there is little economy in 
buying by the large quantity. Norah or Brid- 
get will not be as economical in her use of but- 
ter if there is a crock-full in the cellar as she 
will be if it comes to her in pound packages. 
But to the woman who has the handling of her 
own provisions, it is possible to buy in bulk, 
and to economize by doing so, — always suppos- 



THE KITCHEN PANTRY 39 

ing she has a good place to keep her provisions. 
And such a place is always to be fonnd in a 
farm-house. Butter may be purchased by the 
tub, and kept in the cellar, a pound at a time 
being brought to the upper regions. Hams 
may hang from the cellar rafters and will keep 
for months. Ten-pound cannisters of coffee 
and tea will stand comfortably on the pantry- 
shelves, as will ten or twenty-pound sugar and 
flour tins. I do not advocate the purchase of a 
barrel of flour, unless one is sure that it will not 
be touched by rats or mice. It takes a long 
while for the average family to consume a bar- 
rel of flour, and the wooden receptacle is a fav- 
orite gnawing-place for the persistent rodents. 
If, however, you can keep them at bay by a good 
cat, or a satisfactory trap, you will save money 
by getting flour by the barrel. 

It is well to have what one woman calls an 
^^ emergency shelf '^ in the pantry. On this 
may be kept things that are to be used when 
one finds one's self ^^ short'/ of provisions, or 
when an unexpected guest comes to a meal. 
Here there may be cans of mushrooms, boxes of 
sardines, tins of potted meats, china jars of 



40 FROM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

cheese; boxes of fancy crackers; bottles of 
olives; crocks containing crullers and cookies; 
cans of some good brand of sonp ; cans of plum 
pudding, and other things that tempt the palate 
and help the housewife over many a tight place. 

May I give an illustration of what I mean? 
One night, in a country house, word came that 
the man of the family, — ^who had not been ex- 
pected home, — was bringing a guest to dinner 
and to spend the night. The wife was aghast. 
Her little children had taken their early supper 
of bread-and-milk and gone to bed. She had 
planned to have (after the fashion of the 
woman who eats alone) a bit of cold meat, 
bread-and-butter, and a cup of tea. It was 
snowing heavily, and the village shop was a 
mile away. 

Then she remembered her ^* emergency 
shelf and went to look at it. First of all, she 
took down a can of mock turtle soup. So far, 
so good, but what of meat? A piece — none too 
large — of cold mutton was in the larder. But 
what was that for two hungry and cold men? 
Then she had an inspiration. A can of potted 
ham was opened ; the cold mutton was chopped 



THE KITCHEN PANTRY 41 

fine and mixed with the potted ham, a little 
melted butter was added, the mixed meat was 
made into sausage-shaped rolls and encased in 
biscuit dough and baked. With this went some 
mashed potatoes and scalloped tomatoes, made 
of the contents of a can put up in the summer. 
Olives and pickles were put on the table; a 
canned plum pudding was heated and served 
with wine sauce; crackers and a jar of cheese 
were passed with the black coffee. The guest 
wondered ^^how in the depth of winter one 
could serve such a dinner miles out in the coun- 
try ! " So much for the ' ' emergency shelf. ' ' 

While on the subject of cooking, I want to 
plead with my country sister to become less fa- 
miliar with two articles upon which she de- 
pends too often for the health of her family 
and for her own welfare. These are pork and 
the frying-pan. Both are excellent in their 
way, but that ^ Vay'^ is not three times a day. 
I know what a convenience pork is, and I also 
know, from delectable experiences, how good 
spare-ribs, tenderloins and fresh hams are. 
But it is not a wholesome article of diet when 
fresh, and, when salted, it is, to some stomachs, 



42 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

well-nigh impossible to digest. Use it, but not 
oftener than twice or three times a week. 

As to the frying-pan, it may be a blessing or 
a bane. It is often the latter. It is an easy 
utensil to use ; it takes less time and skill to fry 
a chop than to broil it; the fish is more easily 
fried than cooked in the oven or on the gridiron ; 
the fried egg can be watched, and need not be 
timed by the clock as the boiled egg should be,— 
consequently the busy and over-hurried cook ac- 
quires the frying-pan habit. 

I do not mean to imply that the much-abused 
utensil is not a perfectly legitimate one. It is, 
in fact, almost an essential, but it should not 
usurp the place of other culinary implements. 
A chop should not be fried, unless it has been 
first dipped in egg and cracker-crumbs, when it 
may be saute in very hot fat, — not allowed to 
lie in the pan and soak up grease. Even when 
well fried it is less digestible than when broiled. 

It should not be necessary to remind the 
housekeeper that a fried steak is a culinary 
solecism — I had almost said an atrocity. 

To fry properly, the pan must be hot and the 
fat simmering before the food is laid into the 



THE KITCHEN PANTEY 43 

receptacle. As soon as it is cooked, it must be 
removed and drained free of grease in a hot 
colander. 

The average farmer ^s family eat too much 
grease. Were they to deny themselves so 
much fried foods, and so many pies, their com- 
plexions would be better, for their digestions 
would be good. As I have intimated before, 
the health of the family depends on the kitchen 
more than on any other room in the house. 
The queen of this domain should know some- 
thing of dietetics. It is her business to read 
up books on this subject or to study cook-books 
until she makes herself familiar with the va- 
rious foods that produce certain results; until 
she knows that some foods, — such as meats, 
fats and many sweets, — are needed in cold 
weather, but should be used sparingly during 
the heated term. She should remember that 
fruits are excellent in winter as well as in sum- 
mer, and, when fresh fruits are not available, 
she may set upon her table stewed, preserved 
and canned fruits. 

This is not a cook-book, so I cannot go into 
this subject as extensively as I wish I could. 



44 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

But when I see the sallow faces of some country 
girls, and look at their red and roughened 
hands, I wish that I might have a heart-to-heart 
talk with them, and try to make them under- 
stand that there is no reason for such condi- 
tions if they will only take advantage of the 
remedies that lie right at their hand. Less salt 
meat, and more tramping along country roads ; 
less tea and coffee, and greater quantities of 
fresh cold water; less pie, and more fruit; less 
pork and cabbage and more bread-and-butter 
and buttermilk. This last, by the way, is a 
wonderful cosmetic, and improves the com- 
plexion when used either internally or exter- 
nally. 

In spite of the above paragraph and of my 
urgent advice with regard to the wearing of 
gloves while doing housework of all kinds, this 
is no more a ^^ beauty-book^^ than it is a ^^ cook- 
book. '* But I cannot accompany my sister 
through her home and not utter a word of 
warning or advice here and there with regard 
to her care of her health and her looks. The 
two go together, and one is as much a duty as 
the other. We women have a right to look as 



THE KITCHEN PANTKY 45 

well as is compatible with our other duties. 
And if, on the rounds of our work, we can im- 
prove our health and appearance it is our man- 
ifest duty to do it. 



CHAPTER IV 



THE CELLAB 



Tkash in the house has a tendency to rise to 
the attic or sink to the cellar. This inclination 
should be checked by the housekeeper. 

Do not allow the cellar to become a lurking- 
place for the broken articles that will never be 
mended, nor for refuse of any kind. There is 
no reason why this part of the house may not 
be kept neat and orderly. 

The floor should be of concrete or cement. A 
dirt floor can never be clean, and the cost of 
concrete is not great. It is easily swept, and 
can be washed off if necessary. The walls 
must be white-washed each Spring. The entire 
cellar, with the exception of the coal-bins 
and wood-bins, must be swept every week or 
two, and the cobwebs removed from side-walls 
and ceiling. There is really no reason why 
these sure indications of untidiness should lin- 

46 



THE CELLAR 47 

ger in this part of the house, just because it is 
under-ground and unobserved by the chance 
visitor. 

The cellar windows can be kept clean, thus 
making the always shaded place less dark and 
gloomy. One of these windows will open upon 
the coal-bin, and through this the coal can be 
poured in by means of a chute. When it is pos- 
sible, have the wood cut up out of doors, and 
then put into the cellar. Have one receptacle 
for kindling ; another for the sticks of fire-wood 
to be used in range or open fire-places. 

If you would get the good of your cellar have 
one part of it, — away from the furnace, wood 
and coal-bins, — partitioned off, and provided 
with a closely-fitting door, to which there is a 
padlock and key. Li this room there should be 
a window to admit light enough to enable you 
to see the various articles stored there. Here 
may stand the barrels of apples and potatoes, 
boxes of other vegetables, and the refrigerator 
or ice-box in summer. In winter this may be 
moved to the pantry, if wished, although most 
housekeepers prefer to have it in the cellar all 



48 FROM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

the year. The ice keeps better when the re- 
ceptacle is in a cool, dark place. 

Have the cellar store-room provided with 
swinging- shelves on which may Stand the pans 
of milk. One of these shelves may be enclosed 
with wire netting, and, on this can go the re- 
mainders of a cold roast or other large pieces 
of cooked meat in cold weather. In hot weath- 
er, the meat will do better in the ice-box, as will 
the cream and the pitcher of milk intended for 
table-use. 

In winter the farmer's wife can stow away 
butter, etc., in an enclosed box on the kitchen 
window-sill or on her cellar shelves. But in 
summer the case is different, and the refriger- 
ator must bear the burden of all the articles of 
food which need a low temperature to preserve 
them. 

As the ice-box possesses great potentialities 
for evil it should be cared for systematically. 
Perhaps the country housewife does not appre- 
ciate this as she should. But she should real- 
ize that the health of her family demands that 
she give the box her personal care. 

Last summer a family from the city was 



THE CELLAE 49^ 

boarding at a farmhouse. The farmer's wife 
went away on a visit to friends for a few days, 
and, during her absence, the boarders noticed 
that the butter, hitherto sweet and fresh, had a 
disagreeable taste, which increased in strength 
with each passing day. In vain they com- 
plained to the servants who had charge of the 
house during the absence of the mistress. 
They declared that the butter was from the 
^^same lot as Mrs. Brown used when at home.'^ 
Finally the city housewife asked permission to 
inspect the interior of the ice-chest, which, the 
servants said, was cleaned regularly. Upon 
investigation she saw that close to the butter- 
crock stood a large bowl of cold boiled cabbage 
which had been put away and forgotten. The 
disagreeable taste was accounted for. 

If you buy ice, be careful as to the kind sold 
to you. If you have your own ice harvested 
you may be tolerably certain that the source is 
pure and uncontaminated. Even then, as the 
blocks must be packed down in sawdust to pre- 
serve them in the ice-house, this dust clings to 
the ice when it is brought to you. Therefore 
wash it thoroughly before putting it in the re- 



50 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

frigerator. A good plan is to fasten the ice- 
tongs securely into the block and hang these 
from a strong hook outside the kitchen door, 
then pour cold water over the ice until it is 
clean. 

If you must be economical with ice, wrap 
each cake in a piece of old woolen blanket, 
which must be removed and boiled in water and 
baking-soda at least once a week. To preserve 
ice, it is, of course, necessary to exclude air 
from the surface, and for this purpose some 
housewives use layers of newspapers. This is 
not a good habit, for not only is printers' ink 
in itself impure, but the paper melts and ad- 
heres so closely to the ice — freezes fast, in fact 
— that it does not always melt off until in the 
glass or pitcher of water. 

Unfortunately there are refrigerators of old- 
fashioned make too good to be discarded, but 
which have not adjustable shelves, and which 
are, therefore, difficult to keep in a sanitary 
state. The owner of such must redouble her 
vigilance, and all the compartments must be 
scrubbed frequently with a brush with very 
stiff bristles, using household ammonia diluted 



.THE CELLAR 51 

only enough to make it harmless to the hands. 
Care must be taken that the bristles penetrate 
to every crack and crevice and into the shelf 
corners. One housewife keeps an open box of 
charcoal, to absorb odors, upon each shelf. 

Arrange to clean the receptacle when one 
supply of ice is nearly exhausted and before 
the next arrives. If this is not feasible, wrap 
the ice in the blanket, then in paper, and lay on 
the *^ cellar bottom'' while washing the box. 

It is a mistake to clean the refrigerator 
throughout of tener than once a week, as It be- 
comes so warm that it takes an hour or more 
for it to grow as cool as it was before the clean- 
ing, and in consequence the ice melts rapidly 
and viands are affected by the sudden change of 
temperature. Before beginning the work, have 
ready on the range a large kettle of boiling wa- 
ter into which has been stirred a lump of wash- 
ing-soda. Take all eatables from the refrig- 
erator and cover them closely. Take out the 
shelves, if movable, wash them off quickly with 
the soda water, then rinse in clear cold water, 
wipe with a clean towel, and lay in the sunshine 
to dry and sweeten. If the drain-pipe from 



52 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

your ice-chest connects with a pan, empty this 
and scald it. Replace it, and proceed to wash 
out the inside of the box with the scalding liq- 
uid, pouring an abundance of it through the 
drain-pipe and running the long-handled wire 
brush, made for this purpose, down to the very 
bottom of the pipe. When the entire recepta- 
cle is thoroughly cleansed, wash it with cold 
water to chill it. Take out the waste-pan and 
empty it again, replace it, and as soon as the 
box feels cool to the touch, put in the shelves, 
the ice and the eatables. 

Butter and lard in small quantities may be 
kept right against the ice if desired, but it is 
well to put on the shelves of the chest vegeta- 
bles and fruit. These should be carefully 
watched and at the first sign of decay the af- 
fected article must be thrown away, as in this 
case one sinner destroys much good. A de- 
cayed apple will injure those next to it, cause 
an unpleasant odor in the entire compartment 
containing it, and make itself evident in the 
taste of the butter or of milk if either of these 
chances to be within range of its influence. All 
fruit brought into the house must be wiped with 



THE CELLAR 53 

a damp cloth before it is put away. In the 
case of small fruits, such as berries, cherries 
and grapes, this is impossible, but they must 
be carefully picked over and all soft ones dis- 
carded. Food having a strong taste or odor 
should be kept away from milk or butter, and 
on a shelf by itself. 

Of course the work of caring for the refrig- 
erator is greatly simplified for the woman who 
is able to get a modern one and to select from 
the large supply now to be bought just such as 
suits her taste. She will find herself con- 
fronted with an embarrassment of riches. 
Some of the newest receptacles have glass 
shelves so highly polished that one would think 
any microbe would slip upon them and break 
his iniquitous neck, — if microbes have necks! 
But the woman who has a plain and convenient 
ice-box can keep it quite as sanitary as can her 
city sister with the more elaborate and much 
more expensive receptacle. 

In selecting a new ice-box economy of ice 
should be considered, and to this end one 
should be chosen with walls so thick and so 
well insulated that rapid melting is prevented. 



54 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

While the ice-compartment need not be huge, it 
should be large enough to contain a good-sized 
block, as this will melt more slowly in propor- 
tion than would a small piece, or several small 
pieces. 

As an ounce of prevention is worth a pound 
of cure, it is a good plan to be on the safe as 
well as on the economical side and keep bottles 
of drinking water in the ice-box, close against 
the frigid block. As often as one of these is 
emptied it should be refilled immediately, so 
that chilled water, uncontaminated by microbes 
from the ice, may always be on hand for table 
and individual drinking. If this rule is ad- 
hered to one may have the refreshing effects of 
iced water without the dangers that are said to 
lurk in it when it contains melting ice. 

The breaking of ice is always a wasteful proc- 
ess. If, however, cracked ice is needed, there 
is an economical way of severing a piece of the 
desired size from the main lump. Instead of 
hammering or hacking at it with a pick — which, 
by the way, may slip and punch a hole in the 
ice-box lining — press the point of the instru- 
ment slowly but firmly upon a spot above the 



THE CELLAR 55 

corner of a block, using the palm of the hand 
against the end of the handle, pushing steadily 
and with force. 

No matter how cool the cellar is, fruit and 
vegetables kept there in barrels or boxes will 
require watching. As often as every week 
they should be picked over as has been al- 
ready described. All apples containing specks 
should be used as soon as possible for cooking 
purposes, care being taken to cut away all af- 
fected parts. Such fruits as apples, oranges, 
pears, etc., will last longer and keep firmer if 
each piece is wrapped in tissue paper. This is 
a rather tedious process, but, if one has choice 
fruit, it is worth the effort. 

In the store-room in the cellar it is well to 
keep all preserves, jellies, and vegetables put 
up in glass cans. These articles should be kept 
away from a strong light and from a warm at- 
mosphere. So the cellar is an excellent place 
for them. One of the swinging shelves may be 
utilized for these glasses and jars. But do not 
have the shelf so high that you cannot easily 
reach anything at the back of it. Or, if you 
wish, have a couple of steps that can be moved 



56 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

about at your will. For the best preserved 
fruits should be frequently inspected so that if 
one jar begins to ferment it may be attended to 
at once. As soon as there is a foam near the 
lid of the jar, turn the contents into a preserv- 
ing kettle and boil again, adding a little more 
sugar if necessary. Scald out the jar and re- 
fill it with the boiling fruit, screwing on the air- 
tight top while the jar is overflowing. 

Watch the jellies, also, but remember that 
mold on the surface of fruit or jelly does not 
mean fermentation or injury to the sweetmeat. 
When ready to use, lift off the scum and the 
jelly that adheres to it, and all below it will be 
found sweet and good. 

Never allow the door of communication be- 
tween the main cellar and the store-room to re- 
main open, thus raising the temperature of the 
latter. In summer have all the cellar windows 
fitted with screens that no flies may enter. 

In the spring have the furnace emptied and 
thoroughly cleaned, and ready for the fall. 
Ashes should be taken out regularly, and sifted. 
Do not allow this sifting to be done in the cellar. 
The fine white dust will arise through the 



THE CELLAE 57 

cracks and crevices, or through the registers, 
and rest on all the furniture in the house. 

But the sifting of ashes is an economical proc- 
ess that is not to be despised by the frugal 
householder. The grate always lets through 
an occasional lump of coal that has not been 
burned at all. These may be put in a box by 
themselves. A far larger number of cinders 
will be found, and, when freed from the ashes 
clinging to them, are excellent for keeping the 
fire going when one does not wish to have it fed 
with fresh coal. Before removing the ashes 
for sifting, have them sprinkled with water, 
and, when coal is to be put into the cellar, see 
that it, too, is well wet, so that your house may 
not be filled with the fine, almost impalpable 
coal dust that blackens delicate fabrics, and 
grimes carpets and hangings. 



CHAPTEE V 

THE DINING-ROOM 

The farm-house dining-room is often one of 
the most attractive apartments in the home. 
The very mention of it brings to the mind 
thoughts of a sunny room in midwinter, with 
growing plants on the window-sills, and white 
linen and shining glass and china on the table. 

In furnishing your dining-room do not have 
too many large articles in it. If it is already 
furnished, dispense with any extra tables and 
unnecessary chairs. A sideboard is essential. 
A small serving-table is a convenience. These, 
with the table and straight chairs, are all that 
are required, except rug and curtains. 

Unless your bare floor is so rough and unpre- 
sentable that it is impossible to stain it, do not 
cover it with a regular carpet. Instead have a 
large rug that can be lifted and shaken when 
advisable. The size of this rug will depend 

58 




a 

ft 

>> 



O 

o 
o 



THE DINING-KOOM 59 

upon the dimensions of your room. It should 
be large enough to come within three feet of the 
wall. The bare space beyond the rug should 
be stained of a color to match or to harmonize 
with the wood of chairs and table. Eeady- 
made rugs or ^ ^ art squares ^ ' are not expensive. 
Or, if one prefers, she may make her own rug 
of breadths of plain ingrain carpet or ^'filling," 
sewing the sides of the breadths together and 
finishing the ends with binding to match the 
carpet. Three or four breadths of carpet will 
be all that you need to make the floor-covering 
wide enough. Avoid delicate or very bright 
colors for this. One shows dirt readily; the 
other offends the eye and is out of harmony 
with the rest of the room. Sage or olive-green 
is always good, and does not betray crumbs and 
every bit of dust. 

Even if you are so fortunate as to be the pos- 
sessor of a great many pieces of handsome solid 
or plated silver do not keep it on the sideboard 
unless you are sure that you will have time 
enough to keep it clean. Few things are in 
worse form than a buffet loaded with tarnished 
silver-ware. If, therefore, you have not the 



60 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

leisure and strength to polish your plate reg- 
ularly, keep it out of sight, and put in its place 
china or glass. Coal-gas and salt air both 
blacken silver, and make it necessary to clean 
it several times a week if one would keep it 
bright. When there are so many duties for one 
pair of hands to perform, it is foolish to lay 
upon them one more task, when that is not one 
that makes for the happiness or comfort of the 
family or guests. 

Set a few articles of good design on your 
sideboard. Such may be one or two cut-glass 
bowls, a pretty tea-pot or coffee-pot, and sev- 
eral dainty cups and saucers. Keep the side- 
table covered with a cloth, but do not have any- 
thing else set upon it, as it will be needed at 
meal-times when one can place here the dessert- 
plates, or the dishes that have been taken from 
the table and which await removal to the 
kitchen. When one keeps no maid such a stand 
is a great convenience and saves many steps. 

Have your table-linen as fine as your purse 
can afford, and do not be afraid to use it. The 
habit of giving each member of the family one 



THE DINING-EOOM 61 

clean napkin per week is an untidy one. I ap- 
preciate the fact that one must be economical 
with regard to one's laundry-work, but when a 
napkin is actually soiled do not put it back on 
the table. Supply each member of the family 
with the good old-fashioned napkin-ring, to 
make sure that he always gets his own napkin. 
If one is careful, the large dinner napkins 
which are used but once a day need be renewed 
only twice, or at most, three times a week. The 
small breakfast or luncheon napkins should be 
renewed oftener, as these are used twice as 
much as are the others. 

If there is one locality in which everything 
should be dainty it is the room in which meals 
are served and eaten. It is wonderful how 
much better viands taste if daintily served, and 
eaten from pretty china. In this day there is 
little excuse for the heavy stone-china ware, 
about which one man declared that it made 
him feel as if he were drinking his coffee over 
the edge of a stone wall. One may get taste- 
fully-decorated china, of light weight, so 
cheaply that even the woman in moderate eir- 



62 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

cumstances may have it. When she is so for- 
tunate as to take care of it herself, it is not 
likely to be broken. 

I say ' 'fortunate/' for, while I appreciate 
how much work is involved in the care of one's 
own house, and while I, myself, do not like to 
wash pots and pans, I do believe that if there 
is ever a time when a woman's fingers itch to 
handle her own dainty belongings it is when 
she stands before her china-shelves, — espe- 
cially if she finds hidden away behind other 
crockery some particularly fragile and dainty 
bit that has been broken by a careless servant. 

The washing of dining-room china is, after 
all, a pleasant task if properly done. It is a 
good plan to do it in the dining-room itself, if 
one would save herself much passing back and 
forth from kitchen to dining-table. When a 
meal is finished, pile all the dishes, from which 
food has been carefully scraped, on the side- 
table. Eemove the table-cloth, and the felt 
*^ sound cloth" which should go under it. (If 
one prefers, this sound cloth may be a quilted 
cotton pad, which is easier to keep clean than 
is one of felt.) Put a large asbestos mat at 



THE DINING-EOOM 63 

one end of the table, and set a pan of scalding 
water on this. Lay the various dishes in the 
pan, wash the rough dirt and grease from them 
with a mop, and pile them on a tin tray on the 
side-table, which should be put along-side of 
the large table. 

Take out the soiled water and bring in a 
large pan with a partition in the center, in one 
side of which should be scalding suds, to which 
a little household ammonia has been added, 
while the other side contains clear boiling water. 
First of all, wash the glasses in the clear water, 
turning over quickly and wiping dry, as soon 
as washed, with a fine glass towel. Put into 
the soapy water the small silver and, when all 
the grease has been washed off, drop it into 
the clear water, then take out and wipe off each 
piece briskly. Lay in a pile until the other 
dishes have been washed in the same way. Ee- 
new the water when it gets cool. For this pur- 
pose have a large kettleful on the range all the 
time. Use a soap-shaker of wire, that no bits 
of soap may adhere to the dishes. Never 
^' drain" any one of the pieces if you would 
have them glisten and look as they should. 



64 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

This is a favorite — in fact universal — trick 
with housemaids. Were this not true, their 
glass, china, and silver would not show evi- 
dences of slovenly cleansing. The last dish 
wiped dry, carry out the pan, scald it well, and 
hang it, with the mop, also scalded, at the side 
of the sink. Throw the dish-towels into hot 
water if they need washing. If not, hang on 
a clothes-horse to dry thoroughly. 

On your return to the dining-room, and be- 
fore you remove the loose gloves which I hope 
you have worn while washing the dishes, attack 
the pile of silver with a bit of flannel dipped in 
alcohol, and rub hard. If this is done each day 
there will be no need for the weekly polishing 
that is so often a heavy task. If the silver has 
been neglected, and is really tarnished, put it 
over the fire in a tin pot containing boiling 
water and a heaping tablespoonful of silver- 
powder. Boil hard for five minutes, then take 
out the silver and polish with a bit of flannel as 
soon as you have dried it. This is a short and 
easy way of cleaning knives, forks, and spoons, 
when compared to the usual method of rubbing 
powder on each piece with flannel or brush. If 



THE DINING-ROOM 65 

one takes ordinarily good care of her silver, 
this cleaning is all that is necessary. 

The dishes washed and put away, throw a 
cloth over the sideboard, and open the win- 
dows while you brush out the dining-room. 
The air will be better, even in winter, for these 
five minutes' freshening. With a flannel bag 
put over the broom-bristles, wipe off the bare 
part of the floor, then dust the tables, legs and 
all, and the chairs, woodwork and window- 
glass. Remove the cover from the sideboard, 
wipe oif carefully every article on that, and 
the work of the dining-room is done. I rather 
like the old fashion of covering the table be- 
tween meals with a colored brocade or tapestry 
cloth. Or, if one prefers, the table may remain 
bare, except for a center-piece on which rests 
a pot with a plant in it. Always try to have 
flowers of some kind for the table. Cut blos- 
soms are out of the question in winter, but one 
has always a potted geranium or other plant 
that will grow and blossom in the house. 

Have short sash-curtains at the windows. 
Long curtains are somewhat out-of-place in 
the dining-room, as here one must brush up 



66 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

after each meal, and the hangings that reach 
to the floor become soiled and gray. Have your 
sash-cnrtains of madras in harmonious colors, 
or of pure white muslin, edged with a dainty 
ruffle. 

Do not allow yourself to get into the habit of 
thinking that ^^ anything goes when there is 
just the family present.^* Set your daily table 
with the utmost care, and, if possible, in the 
manner approved by the fashion of the day. 
You will thus accustom your children to having 
things at home as they may expect to find them 
among refined people when they go out in the 
world. Do not let them look back, when they 
are grown, to a home where the linen was yel- 
low and worn, the china chipped, and the silver 
dull, and where things were set on the table in 
a helter-skelter way. Study books and maga- 
zines dealing with the proper setting of the 
table, and live up to the rules laid down there 
as nearly as you can. Do not sneer at finger- 
bowls and other fashionable table appoint- 
ments, and deem them ^^a nuisance.'' Or, 
if you do consider them a bother, do not let 
the children know it. If you have little daugh- 



THE DINING-EOOM 67 

ters teach them to help you make the table 
attractive. I know of one small girl of eight 
years of age who, with a piece of flannel, 
polishes the various articles of silver that go 
on the table, and lays them in their proper 
places at each cover. She feels that it is 
her home as well as her mother's and she has 
a just pride in it. The mother has trained 
her to think that a well-appointed table is a 
duty, as well as a pleasure. 

If there are many children, use large feeding- 
bibs for the younger ones, — the youngsters who 
are still in high-chairs. These bibs are easy 
to wash and save the napkins much wear and 
tear. 

A custom that makes for economy in the use 
of table-cloths is that of the ^^ polished" table 
on which are laid a large square, or center- 
piece, and doylies for breakfast and luncheon. 
The table need not be polished to a gloss, but 
must be prepared by one who understands the 
work, and rubbed with a dull, or shining, finish. 
The dull finish is more easy to care for than is 
the shining surface, as every little mark does 
not show upon it. With a table thus prepared, 



68 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

one should use asbestos mats under the doylies 
on which hot dishes or plates are set. Asbes- 
tos mats encased in embroidered covers come 
in sets and are convenient and pretty. These 
covers can be slipped off and laundered as 
often as necessary. 

In Summer, except when the sweeping of the 
room is going on or when the family are actu- 
ally at table, keep the dining-room as dark as 
possible. Exclude the light if you would have 
no flies. Do not allow food to remain on the 
table after a meal is over. Of course all the 
rooms in the house will be thoroughly screened, 
and all outside doors will be supplemented by 
doors of wire screening with strong springs. 
In such conditions, there is carelessness some- 
where if flies enter. Nevertheless, someone is 
often careless, and the flies will make their way 
to localities where food is to be found. There- 
fore it is well to place a sheet of sticky fly-pa- 
per, laid on a larger sheet of newspaper, on the 
dining-table between meals. Never lay a piece 
of it on a chair, anywhere. The reasons for this 
warning are obvious. 



CHAPTEE VI 

THE LIVING-EOOM 

Some persons call the apartment with whicli 
we are now dealing "the drawing-room/' 
others term it ^^the parlor," still others, ^^the 
sitting-room," while some extremely old-fash- 
ioned people still cling to the odd expression, 
''the best room." In this chapter I mean to 
call it ^^the living-room," for that is what it 
ought to be in every well-regulated household. 
Not that it need be known by the name I give 
it, but that it should be the place where the 
family live when in-doors, and when not eating, 
sleeping, or engaged in the various duties of 
the home. 

In too many families, the ^^best room" is the 
worst room, so far as comfort is concerned. 
"We all know the musty smell of the apartment 
that is kept closed tightly, except when there 
is a wedding, a funeral, or when the minister 

69 



70 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

comes to supper. I remember one house in 
which the cheerful dining-room was also the 
family sitting-room. In here were a great 
couch and easy chairs, a desk, a table with books 
on it, and a bay-window full of plants. Right 
across the hall was the parlor. Into this com- 
pany was ushered, unless said company was so 
fortunate as to be on terms of intimacy with the 
hostess, when the cheery dining-room became 
the reception room. 

But that parlor ! I can smell it now ! When 
I called there the outside world was bathed in 
early Summer sunshine ; the air was laden with 
the breath of blossoms ; nature was in a riot of 
glow and color. From all this I stepped into 
^'the best room.'' I sat there awaiting my 
hostess and feeling the chill of dead and un- 
buried yesterdays creeping to the marrow of 
my bones. Some of the furniture was covered 
with black horsehair; other pieces were up- 
holstered in red plush, and were very hard and 
unyielding. The carpet had huge figures on it. 
The blinds were bowed, so that a few straggling 
rays of light entered. The windows were 
closed tightly. There was an exact place in 





o 

- o 

o 



P5 



THE LIVING-EOOM 71 

the room for each bit of furniture, and each 
piece was set on that identical place. The 
square piano was closed, and covered with a 
heavy cloth. On this rested a piece of Eogers 
statuary, two oil paintings, a big vase, and a 
stuffed bird covered with glass. All the por- 
traits on the wall were of people who were dead, 
or looked as if they wished they were. I no- 
ticed a cleared place near the center of the 
room, and had to fight imagination to keep from 
remembering how many family coffins had stood 
there, and it took a great deal of faith to con- 
vince me that the room had been aired since 
the last funeral. And this was *^the best 
room!'' 

And yet it was possessed of infinite capabili- 
ties. The long windows opened upon a vine- 
covered veranda at one side ; at the other, upon 
a smooth lawn. There was a fire-place, closed 
now by a hideously-decorated^ ^fire-board." I 
found myself wishing that I might be allowed 
to split it up for kindling-wood and burn it in 
the very fire-place its ugliness concealed. 

I wish I could impress upon the farmer's wife 
that there are few greater ornaments to a room 



72 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

than one of these old fire-places. She too often 
feels that after furnace, or steam, or hot water 
heat has been installed the dear old hearth and 
chimney-piece are out of fashion. This they 
never are. If you are so happy as to possess 
one in your living-room, make the most of it. 
Fit it up with a pair of fire-dogs, — the older the 
better. But if you have no old ones, get a pair 
of. good design in brass or wrought iron. I 
count as one of my choicest possessions an old 
iron fender on which my great-grandmother 
used to warm her dainty feet. You are fortu- 
nate if you possess such a bit of furniture. If 
not, buy a fender of some kind. Always have 
a fire laid in the chimney-place and do not be 
afraid to light it when the mornings and even- 
ings are chilly. The family will find it a center 
of attraction and gravitate to it as surely as 
birds seek the light. I know that many per- 
sons claim that an open fire-place makes a room 
cold in winter when there is furnace heat in the 
house. A remedy for this is to stuff the lower 
part of the chimney, just above the fire-place, 
with newspapers, which can be removed when 



THE LIVING-BOOM 73 

one wishes to have a fire. Let this be often 
during the winter. 

Wall-covering must, of course, be chosen to 
suit one's individual taste in such matters. 
But a wall-paper of a solid color is always 
pleasanter to live with than one of a figured 
design. Cartridge paper makes an excellent 
back-ground for pictures. Be careful of the 
color you choose, and be sure that it will not be 
out of harmony with the hangings. A good 
shade of green is excellent if the draperies will 
go well with it. But avoid a bright green, or 
a very dark shade, — unless your room be un- 
usually well-lighted. A dark green absorbs the 
light, and darkens an entire apartment. Unless 
you have hard-wood finishings, a white enamel 
paint is a charming contrast to the green paper. 
If you select some other color for the paper do 
so with great care. Bed one tires of after a 
while, and other shades of red will not harmon- 
ize with it. A warm buff is pretty, — especially 
if you have portieres of a deep brown. But 
choose some one color-scheme and adhere to it. 
I do not mean that you must have all your 



74 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

furniture recovered at one time to harmonize 
with the wall-paper. Few persons can afford 
to do that. But when you do bring in a new 
shade, select one that will not, as the saying is, 
^* swear at'^ what you already have. 

Do not use cheap chenille portieres if you 
can get any other kind. If not, have those you 
now possess dyed to suit your scheme. Green 
or golden-brown hangings are safe, as a rule. 

And now as to the window-draperies. As 
this room is where you all sit to read, and sew, 
and talk, get curtains that will be pretty and 
yet serviceable. I wish all housewives would 
avoid Nottingham lace curtains ! They are not 
pretty, and they are common. They often cost 
more than simple muslin curtains would and 
are just as hard to keep clean and are not half 
as dainty. Buy window-hangings that are as 
handsome as your purse will permit, — always 
bearing in mind that they must be chosen with 
a regard for their wearing qualities. In these 
days one can purchase pretty net curtains, with 
a conventional border, at a very moderate price. 
They clean well, and are artistic and satis- 



THE LIVING-KOOM 75 

factory. I am supposing that you mean to have 
but one pair of hangings at each window. If, 
however, you prefer sash-curtains against the 
windows, and long ones inside, get for the short 
pair a pretty net. For the long curtains iish- 
net to correspond with your wall-covering would 
be attractive. 

While you want everything in this living- 
room to be as handsome as you can afford, do 
not choose anything that is so easily soiled that 
it will mean extra work in a short time, or that 
it will become a bugbear to the members of 
the family. Chairs that have such delicate 
coverings that husband or sons must be warned 
^^ please not to sit in that chair''; rugs that are 
so handsome that one grudges seeing them 
walked on, do not make for comfort or peace in 
the family. Insist that your boys and girls 
shall learn to care properly for nice things, by 
accustoming them to such things, but do not err 
so far in that direction that home is not a pleas- 
ant place to live. 

A man with a particular wife got into the 
habit of going across the road to his neighbor's 



76 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

house after dinner each night. A friend asked 
him why he did this. He hesitated a moment, 
then said bluntly: — 

'^Because Smith's wife lets him smoke in the 
house, and my wife will not allow it. She says 
it makes the house smell bad; she says the 
ashes make dirt; she says the smoke dulls the 
polish on the furniture. Yet I notice that 
Smith's house is just as nice as ours, that his 
furniture is quite as handsome, and yet he and 
his boys smoke in the parlor every evening, and 
his wife sits by and does not mind, — or does not 
seem to.'' 

There lies the secret of making people com- 
fortable, — ^not to seem to mind, if one does. 
There are so many things about which one must 
say ^^ Don't!" that when one can pass by some 
of the trifles that are not actually wrong, it is 
well to do so. No woman likes to have her 
draperies redolent of tobacco-smoke, and the 
ashes on the rugs and carpet are a nuisance, — 
in spite of the men's assurance that they ^^keep 
away moth." But let us look at matters from 
the masculine standpoint and pretend that they 
do prevent moth, — (who knows that they 



THE LIVING-EOOM 77 

don't?) and take the extra trouble of brushing 
"^up the ashes that fall, or, better still, have an 
ash-tray right by every smoking masculine. 
And suppose that one must open the windows 
for a few minutes longer than usual to let out 
the smoke, — is not that better than to have the 
man and boys stay out because the smoke is not 
allowed to come in? 

We women need to look at things in their 
proper perspective. We are too prone to make 
idols of our belongings, or of our homes, to the 
exclusion of the spirit of home. Have the rugs 
in your living-room shaken when necessary, 
and your carpet swept a little oftener than your 
widowed and childless neighbor does, and be 
glad you have someone to make a genuine Home 
for. 

I do not advocate untidiness,— in fact a 
slovenly housekeeper is a very unpleasant crea- 
ture. But, after all, one can only do one's best, 
and must let the rest go. Train the youngsters 
to clear up the ^^mess'^ they make, to love your 
pretty house as you do, to take a personal pride 
in it, and then keep it as clean as you can. But 
do not wear out nerves and temper complaining 



78 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

at unavoidable disorder and at the little con- 
fusion which, the presence of jolly and home- 
loving people is bound to cause. Simply shrug 
your mental shoulders, say to yourself, — ^'Well 
the room was clean once to-day, '^ and add, ^^but 
it has gotten smokey and disordered in the 
cause of comfort and happiness!'^ There will 
be no hurt or bitter feeling and no fretfulness 
if this is your attitude of mind. 

I hope that my readers are not the possessors 
of, or possessed by, a large variety of bric-a- 
brac! It is a doubtful blessing. I sometimes 
wish that there was a law against it, or that it 
cost so much that most people could not buy it. 
Vases with huge bodies and with necks so small 
that a single flower-stem is all that can be 
squeezed in; shepherdesses with crooks that 
look like exaggerated peppermint- sticks ; cher- 
ubs whose inflated cheeks make one fancy they 
have ulcerated teeth on both sides at once ; red 
lobsters and hideous green frogs, — all made of 
ware of various kinds — are among the impos- 
sible things which well-meaning persons send 
the housekeeper as gifts upon one occasion or 
another. They are of no use, and certainly are 



THE LIVING-EOOM 79 

not pretty. They gather dust, and never get 
broken. The smirking ^^Eebecca at the well" 
statuette will outlast several generations of 
dainty cups and saucers that combine beauty 
with usefulness. 

Do not think me hopelessly practical. I am 
not that. But I do want to put in a plea for 
things that are useful as well as beautiful, or, 
if not useful, have enough beauty to warrant 
their existence. A really good plaster cast is 
such an article; so is a good engraving; but 
hydrocephalic china frogs, and prancing horses 
with legs that are not mates, do not belong to 
the things which make for beauty. ^ ^ ..... 

As to pictures! It would be interesting to 
note how many family squabbles have pictures 
as their starting-point. George Eliot says, — 
^^ A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain 
on the affections.'' I do not think it is to be 
mentioned in the same category as a difference 
of taste in pictures. The husband loves a 
brightly-colored painting of a ship floundering 
in a deep sea, with gulls one-half the size of the 
vessel swooping up and down across the entire 
sea-scape. To the wife it is a thing of horror. 



80 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

She intimates, hesitatingly, that ^^ perhaps the 
boys" (poor boys!) ^^ might like that picture in 
their room — " She gets no further. If a look 
could kill, she would drop lifeless. Such re- 
proach, such wounded feeling, as are combined 
in the gaze with which her husband turns to her. 
That picture ! The idea of that picture being 
sent up to the boys^ room! Why a dear old 
uncle presented that painting to the family 
forty years ago. It was done by a friend of 
his. How could anyone want to put that won- 
derfully good bit of an oil-painting, where, for 
all he knows, those careless boys, may punch a 
hole in it? In her innermost soul the wife may 
whisper, — ^*I wish they would!'' But she lets 
the matter drop, and the picture stays where 
it is. 

Do I exaggerate? Have not you, my sister, 
gone through experiences similar to the one I 
have just described? Perhaps it was your hus- 
band who disliked the picture your grandmother 
gave you, or the table-cover that was always on 
your dear old aunt's table. And when your 
husband spoke of it as ^^that hideous thing" the 



THE LIVING-EOOM 81 

quick tears sprang to your eyes. It seemed like 
sacrilege. 

But it was not. We of tliis present day have 
different views from those held a century, or 
half-a-century ago. Because the dear old 
grandmother used a certain thing does not 
mean that it was, of necessity, beautiful. Some- 
times it was, of course, but age does not mean 
harmony in all cases. Just because we do not 
appreciate this fact our rooms are crowded with 
bits of furniture, with pictures, with brac-a-brae 
that we must keep, because to give them away 
or to banish them to the attic will hurt someone. 
As if the dear dead would have us keep things 
they used just because they did use them ! Per- 
haps they were tired of them, too, but had ^'a 
sentiment'' against throwing them away. 
Surely, now that they are in a better world, 
they know just how ugly those things were. 

Therefore I counsel my reader to get rid of 
the articles that are not useful or that are 
hideous and unnecessary. If one of the atroc- 
ities chances to be a bit of furniture that can- 
not be dispensed with until you save the money 

6 



82 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

to put sometliiiig in its place, make the best of 
it, by recovering it, or throwing some pretty 
bit of drapery over its hard outlines. Fortu- 
nately, some of the old things are the most artis- 
tic. All of us love the old mahogany pieces, 
the huge arm-chairs with the ^^ wings'' at the 
sides, the work-stands with the * leaves" on 
each end. Lucky is the woman who possesses 
such;^ '*^ 

If you and your husband can agree on pic- 
tures, have no paintings unless they are really 
good ones on your living-room walls. Eemem- 
ber when you buy a picture that it is a thing 
with which you have to live for years to come. 

In few farm-houses is there a library sepa- 
rate from the living-room. In this latter 
apartment, therefore, must go the books, and 
they enhance the home-look. Do not be afraid 
to line the walls as high as your shoulder with 
book-shelves. These can be made by a village 
carpenter, if you wish. But I have found ex- 
cellent shelves of mission-work that are cheap 
and satisfactory. They come in sections, and 
a new section can be added whenever it is 
needed. It is superfluous to say that shelves 



THE LIVING-EOOM 83 

with glass doors are the best kind to have, but 
they are not cheap, and one can do very well 
without them. One woman consoles herself for 
the fact that she cannot afford glass fronts to 
her book-shelves by saying that she feels more 
free to help herself to a book when it is not 
tucked away behind a glass, and that the very 
fact that she has but to stretch out her hand and 
grasp a volume makes it seem more like an inti- 
mate friend. This may be a ^'sour grapes'' 
philosophy, but it is a pleasant one. 

There is a variety of opinion as to where the 
old-fashioned ^^center-table" should stand. I 
know it has been relegated to the comer in 
many homes, and when the living-room is small 
it is too cumbersome to look well in the middle 
of the apartment. But if one has a large room 
it is rather agreeable and convenient to have a 
center-table on which the reading lamp rests at 
night, and about which the family may group 
themselves to read, sew or write. It is a good 
place to put the latest magazines and the va- 
rious books that are being read. 

Another table that it would be well for the 
farmer's wife to introduce into her living-room. 



84 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

if she has not already done so, is the afternoon 
tea-table. The pretty custom of serving tea 
and bread-and-butter to the chance caller, or 
to the members of one's own family, in the lat- 
ter part of the afternoon, is well-nigh universal 
in the city. It makes a charming break in the 
long afternoon, and is a function that can be 
established with little trouble. On a small 
table in the corner of the room may stand sev- 
eral pretty cups and saucers, with teaspoons, 
a tea-pot, covered sugar-bowl, tea-cannister, 
and silver, nickel-plated, or copper tea-kettle 
with an alcohol lamp beneath. It is little 
trouble to carry the kettle to the kitchen and 
fill it with boiling water and to bring it back 
to the living-room with a small pitcher of 
cream, and half-a-dozen triangular sandwiches 
of bread-and-butter. Or, if one prefers, there 
may be a china cracker-]ar on the little tea- 
table, and this does away with the necessity of 
carrying in bread-and-butter, as in this jar may 
be kept fancy biscuit or cookies. The making 
of the tea takes only five minutes, and promotes 
sociability. 
Some housekeepers prefer arranging a large 



THE LIVING-EOOM 85 

tray with the tea-things as soon as the noon- 
day meal is over, and leaving it in the dining- 
room or pantry until it is needed. In this case, 
the. tea may be made in the kitchen, and the 
tray bearing the articles that will be needed 
can be carried in and set on the small tea-table 
above mentioned, which can then be placed 
where one wishes. Or, in summer, the tea-tray 
can be taken to the veranda. 

Perhaps, as the veranda is often the out-door 
living-room it may be well to include it in this 
chapter. Each year more people appreciate 
the benefit to be derived from out-door life, and 
the veranda grows in popularity. Once it was 
merely a porch, supplied with chairs to be 
sure, but not particularly inviting to one who 
would lounge or read. We have changed all 
that. Now rugs of crex, matting, or other ma- 
terial that will not be injured by dampness, 
are spread on the veranda. Easy chairs of 
wicker or wood, painted, if you like, in colors 
to match the paint on the house, are placed in- 
vitingly about. A green wicker tea-table 
covered with a pretty cloth is in one corner, 
and is brought forward every afternoon, laden 



8S FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

with hot or iced tea, as the weather indicates. 
Screens, that can be raised or dropped at will, 
shield one from the afternoon sun. Porch 
cushions, covered with denim or turkey red, 
make attractive spots of color at the top of the 
steps. The frugal housewife will find this out- 
door living-room a great saving to the inside 
one. That, of course, in Summer, must be kept 
shaded to exclude flies and to invite coolness. 
Outside, one may catch the wandering breeze, 
and do as one pleases. ^^^^-^^ 

A custom adopted by many country house- 
keepers is that of screening-in one end of the 
veranda and serving breakfast out there in 
warm weather. It is a delightful fashion. 
Never is the air purer or sweeter than in the 
early morning hours, and surely food eaten 
under those circumstances is especially good. 
A plain deal kitchen-table may be carried to 
the veranda the night before, and it can be 
quickly set in the morning. A large tray can 
be used to carry out the dishes. The dining- 
room need not be used for eating, therefore, 
until noon-time, an arrangement which keeps 
it cool, dark and free from flies. Some people 



THE LIVING-EOOM 87 

take, also, their evening meal on the piazza. 
If one has a simple supper at night, this is a 
good arrangement, but if one dines at night, it 
increases rather than diminishes labor in the 
house where the wife and mother does her own 
work. 



CHAPTEE VII 

THE BEDROOM 

The number of bedrooms occupied depends, 
of course, upon the size of the family, — for the 
farmer usually has a house of generous dimen- 
sions. I wish that each individual in each 
household in the country could have a separate 
bedroom for himself or herself. When one 
has once known the luxury of an unshared sleep- 
ing-apartment she is seldom willing to halve 
the comfort by dividing it with another. In 
the old days sisters occupied the same bed and 
room, and were satisfied, not knowing how 
much more luxurious they might be. One's 
very own room, ventilated to please one's self, 
furnished just as one wishes, with one's pet be- 
longings arranged to suit one's own tastes; an 
entire bed in which one may pitch and toss, 
stretch and yawn, without the consciousness 
that another would-be sleeper is being annoyed, 

88 




s 

ft 



THE BEDEOOM 89 

— all of these are aids to happiness that are not 
to be despised. 

It is needless to say in this enlightened day 
and generation that to sleep alone is much 
more hygienic than to occupy the same bed 
with another person. If, therefore, two mem- 
bers of the same family must occupy the same 
sleeping-room, insist on having two single beds 
for them. These can be placed side-by-side, if 
desired, or the width of the room can be be- 
tween the sleepers. 

The placing of the bed is a matter that re- 
ceives little thought in some homes, but it is 
worthy of consideration. A bed that faces the 
window through which the morning light pours 
in is in a bad position for the sleeper's eyes. 
Many persons have severe headache when they 
sleep facing the light. Bunyan speaks in his 
great Allegory of a guest-chamber looking to- 
wards the East, ^* whose name was Peace.'' In 
this time and land some of us would call a 
chamber so situated, with the bed facing the 
window, by some other name than ^^ Peace!" 

Try to have the bed so placed that the morn- 
ing light will not strike directly on the face of 



90 FROM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

tlie sleeper, and in such a position that the win- 
dows can be stretched wide at night without 
the occupant of the room lying in a draught. 
If this is not possible, provide a substantial 
folding screen, covered with a dark-green ma- 
terial, that can be placed around the bed. 

For whatever the chamber lacks there must 
be ample ventilation. With every passing 
year we Americans appreciate more keenly 
that fresh air means health, and the absence of 
it disease. In thinking over the old times, 
when people slept in feather-beds, with closed 
windows, and, sometimes, a stove burning 
in the room, we wonder that our grand- 
parents did not die of asphyxiation. They did 
have colds and coughs, and ^ ^galloping con- 
sumption,^' and for them all warm, unaired 
rooms were prescribed. I well remember 
the look of horror on the face of one old woman 
when she peeped into a room in which a pneu- 
monia patient lay, and saw the windows in the 
adjoining apartment stretched wide open, and 
the doors of communication unclosed, so that 
the keen winter air filled the room. 

*^0, my dear!'' she protested,* *'he will 



THE BEDEOOM 91 

breathe that cold air into his lungs, and it will 
inflame them worse f 

The fact that the patient recovered only con- 
vinced her that he did so in spite of gross mis- 
management on the part of the modern physi- 
cian, 

I am sorry to say that in many farm-houses 
there still exists an unwholesome dread of what 
one doctor calls, with all reverence, — ^'G-od 
Almighty ^s fresh air.'' One window is low- 
ered cautiously a half-inch from the top at 
night to admit ozone into a warm room in which 
two persons sleep. Let the house-mother in- 
sist upon a revolution in this matter. The 
warm weather is a good time to start the re- 
form, and as winter approaches do not have the 
bedroom window shut at night. Gradually the 
inmates will become accustomed to the change, 
— always supposing that they are provided 
with an abundance of warm covers. Close the 
doors, so that the bed is not in the direct cur- 
rent of air. If one suffers with cold about the 
head, it is better to allow such an one to wrap 
the head in a loose woolen scarf than to shut 
out the fresh air. 



92 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

Do I seem too much, of an enthusiast in this 
matter? My excuse is that I have seen diseased 
lungs cured by this method, and delicate chil- 
dren, susceptible to colds and coughs, develop 
into sturdy youths under the fresh air treat- 
ment. 

Speaking of bed-clothing reminds me to put 
in a plea for covers that combine lightness with 
warmth. Avoid the heavy ^'comfortable,'' — 
(a travesty on the name it bears) that weighs 
down the sleeper, and oppresses him. Use in 
its stead what are known as '^ duvets" of light- 
weight cheese-cloth, tufted or quilted to suit 
one's taste. These may be filled with down, or 
even with a soft and light-weight cotton batting. 
One made of cardinal red cheese-cloth, tufted 
here and there with knots of baby-ribbon of the 
same color, and bound with wide cardinal rib- 
bon, is pretty and looks warm. If one prefers 
lighter and daintier colors, cheese-cloth in 
beautiful shades may be found, and is very 
cheap. 

It is well to have a set of winter blankets, and 
thinner ones for summer use. I have never 
seen any reason for having the summer blan- 



THE BEDEOOM 93 

kets doubled. For that matter, winter blankets 
are more easily handled if they are single in- 
stead of double. The housekeeper may change 
these herself, by cutting them in half, and bind- 
ing the raw edges. The double-blankets are 
difficult to shake out, are heavy to lift, and 
have a way of getting folded unevenly, so that 
the lower one is some inches shorter than the 
upper. 

I wish all housekeepers could afford linen 
sheets for hot weather, but they are expensive, 
and those of fine muslin are excellent sub- 
stitutes. If, however, you are so fortunate as 
to be the owner of linen sheets, be stingy with 
them. I say this with all seriousness, for the 
average child does not know linen from cotton, 
and will be just as careless with one as with the 
other. In case one of the youngsters is ill 
and feverish, the linen will feel grateful to his 
heated body. Otherwise save such sheets for 
the use of guests and ^^ grown-ups'' in the 
heated term. 

With pillow-slips the case is rather differ- 
ent, for linen certainly is more pleasant against 
the cheek than muslin. But very fine cambric 



94 FROM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

pillow-slips are soft and pleasant to the skin. 

In this day of single beds bolsters are out 
of fashion. It is fortunate for the bed-maker 
that this is true, for to slip a plethoric bolster 
into a rather scant slip is no easy task. Now 
each single bed is provided with two night- 
pillows, and some pairs of these have been 
made by cutting the unwieldy bolster in half. 

Pillow shams are not as fashionable as of 
old, and many housekeepers use in their place 
*^ day-pillows'' which are removed at night 
with the day-counterpane. This is really an 
excellent custom, for the bed will look fresh 
and dainty all the week. The elaborate lace 
and satin bed and pillow-covers detract, to my 
way of thinking, from the pure daintiness of 
the bed's appearance, but that is, of course, 
merely a matter of personal preference. 
There should be on the bed a counterpane that 
can be removed at night, when one of dimity or 
other light and easily-washed material is put 
on in its place. The day-covering can be care- 
fully folded and laid aside with the day-pillows 
until the morning. 

Each bed should have a mattress-cover to 



THE BEDROOM 95 

protect the ticking from dust and dirt, and to 
make the sheet lie smoothly. At one time felt, 
or an old blanket, was used for this purpose. 
Now one can get at small cost regular quilted 
cotton mattress-covers. 

The day of the feather bed is almost past. 
In some country-places one still jSnds these 
once highly-prized possessions, and I have 
sometimes wondered if, on bitter winter nights, 
they might not feel rather pleasant in an un- 
heated room. But this is not a hygienic 
thought, so we will dismiss it as an evidence 
of my ignorance, — for I have never slept in a 
feather bed. I have, however, lain on a hair 
mattress on top of one of feathers, and it was 
most comfortable. It is well that the feather 
bed has been banished, — setting aside the ques- 
tion as to whether it was good for the sleeper 
or not, — for great care was required to keep 
such beds in a fresh, sweet condition, and many 
sunnings and airings were necessary to pre- 
vent a close musty odor from clinging to them. 

The average maid does not know how to 
make a bed. She has the idea prevalent in her 
class that ^^ anyone can do that," whereas it 



96 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

takes brains to do it properly. It is so often 
improperly done that I would like to give 
minute directions to my reader, although she 
probably knows all about it. But she may 
sometime have a maid who does not, and she 
can show her this paragraph. Naturally, the 
first step towards performing the task 
thoroughly must be taken by the occupant of 
the bed. On arising, she should strip the cov- 
ers from the bed and hang them over the foot- 
board and a chair placed near it, so that they 
do not rest on the floor. She should remove 
the pillows, and turn back the mattress, that 
the air may reach every part of it. On leaving 
her room, the windows must be set wide open. 
After the ^^ airing'' period, — lasting at least 
an hour, — is over, the covers must be placed 
on a chair and the mattress turned. On a sin- 
gle bed this is not a difficult task, but a double- 
bed mattress should be divided into sections, 
so that it can be lifted without too much strain 
on the back and arms. The mattress-cover is 
then put on, and pulled smooth. After that 
comes the lower sheet, and upon the proper ad- 
justment of this much of the comfort of the 



THE BEDROOM 97 

bed depends. Lift the lower end of the mat- 
tress and fold the bottom of the sheet mider 
it, so that it cannot slip up. Go to the head 
of the bed and do the same with the upper end 
of the sheet at the top of the mattress. Now 
tuck in the sides of the sheet, pulling it so 
smooth that there remains not the shadow of 
a crease in the whole expanse. Put the upper 
sheet on smoothly, and tuck it and the blankets 
in at the foot firmly, that there may be no 
chance of their ^^ working up" during the night. 
(One who does not know the misery of cover- 
ings that part company with the foot of the 
bed, and leave one's feet uncovered, may smile 
at the above warning.) Now put on the coun- 
terpane, but do not tuck this in so tightly that 
its removal at bed-time will loosen the other 
covers. Fold the top of the upper sheet over 
the blankets, and fold the top of the counter- 
pane over all. Stand the pillows up against 
the head-board, or lay them flat, as you prefer. 
If there is a duvet, fold it, and lay it over the 
foot of the bed. The whole creation, when 
complete, should be smooth, spotless and 
dainty. 



98 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

There has been a good deal of discussion 
among housewives as to the frequency with 
which sheets should be changed. I was much 
amused at hearing a dear woman exclaim some 
years ago: 

* ' 0, dear ! I would like to be Queen Victoria ! 
I suppose a queen can have clean sheets every 
night, can't she?'^ 

To her mind all the pomp, ceremony and 
wealth of royalty faded into insignificance com- 
pared with the luxury of being able to sleep in 
fresh sheets every night and not count the 
cost ! 

As a rule, once a week is often enough to 
change the sheets. Of course in case of ill- 
ness, they must be renewed much oftener. In 
homes where expense is no consideration one 
can follow her Queen Victoria-like tendencies. 
But the housekeeper of moderate means can- 
not be so extravagant. 

The furnishings of the bedroom may be as 
simple or as elegant as one's purse will per- 
mit and one's fancy dictates. I would, how- 
ever, suggest that heavy woolen draperies, 
thick carpets, etc., be excluded from the bed- 



THE BEDEOOM 99 

chamber. Have at the windows muslin cur- 
tains that will not be injured by the ventilation- 
processes I have advocated. They should be of 
a material that can be washed and ironed fre- 
quently. A bare floor, polished, with rugs laid 
upon it, is ideal for the sleeping apartments. 
If this is not practicable, have a good matting 
and rugs. Do not get a cheap matting. It 
splinters off and has a surprising faculty for 
running with needle-like sharpness into bare 
feet. 

The room must be brushed up and carefully 
dusted each morning. The washstand must 
never be neglected, whether it be a stationary 
one with running water, or that which is 
oftener found in country houses, the old-fash- 
ioned, but very comfortable, stand of wood 
with china toilet-set. The pitchers must be 
emptied, washed out and refilled with fresh 
water daily; the bowl must be scrubbed with 
hot water and soap and a little ammonia, to 
remove the ring of grease that accumulates 
within it in a mortifyingly short time. The 
soap-dish will require a daily washing at least, 
and there is no receptacle more often neglected 



100 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

than this same soap-dish. The soap and dirt 
combine to make it a very unsightly object un- 
less cared for often. The slops should be emp- 
tied, and the receptacles that held them scalded 
out with boiling water and washing-soda. 
When practicable, set them in the sun, uncov- 
ered, for an hour every two or three days. The 
top of the washstand, if of wood, must be cov- 
ered with a plain white cloth. If the top is of 
marble, it need not be covered, unless one 
wishes. Soiled towels are removed and hung 
where they will dry before being consigned to 
the soiled clothes hamper ; the clean towels are 
hung neatly on the towel-rack, and the wet 
wash-cloths laid in the sun to dry. 

As one must sit much in one^s room if she 
would have the solitude which all crave some- 
times, there should always be one or two com- 
fortable chairs in each chamber. Here, also, 
one may use her ingenuity in arranging taste- 
ful contrivances for her use, — a pretty dress- 
ing table, a dainty shirt-waist-box, and the 
many things that make for beauty and for a 
woman's or man's comfort. 

To a man his bedroom is, as a rule, but a 



THE BEDROOM 101 

place to sleep and dress. But to a woman it is 
often bedroom and boudoir combined. 

In calling on a friend who is an excellent 
manager and housekeeper, I was asked to go up 
and look at her bedroom which she had been 
refurnishing. The prevailiag color was pink, 
and as hers was not a sunny room she was not 
afraid to use the rather perishable tint. The 
counterpane was one of the flowered dimity 
spreads so popular at present, and the design 
was wild roses on a white ground. Washable 
rugs of pink-and-white lay on the polished 
floor, and the simple white curtains were tied 
back with rose-colored ribbons. 

But what impressed me most was the dress- 
ing-table. The clumsy bureau had disap- 
peared, and in its place stood a delicate crea- 
tion of rose and white. Being of an inquisitive 
turn of mind, and also an intimate friend of my 
hostess, I studied the pretty innovation until I 
learned how it was made. 

A semicircular board on four upright legs 
formed the rude foundation. This was placed 
against the wall. On the table-top was 
smoothly tacked pink silesia covered with dot- 



102 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

ted Swiss muslin, and a flounce or curtain of 
the same fell to the floor, hiding the unsightly 
legs. 

^^I may remark, in passing, that this is my 
shoe-box,'' said my friend, lifting the valance 
and revealing a row of shoes neatly ranged on 
the floor. *^I had a shoe-bag nailed on my 
closet door, but it was forever becoming top- 
heavy and spilling its contents. This is far 
more convenient." 

About four feet above the table-top a stout 
hook had been fastened in the wall, and, from 
this, curtains of the dotted muslin lined with 
pink hung behind and at the sides of the table, 
and reached to the floor. A huge bow of pink 
ribbon caught them to the hook, and knots of 
the same tied them back at each side. The pin- 
cushion and bureau scarf were of pink muslin 
covered with white dotted Swiss muslin. 

*^But," I asked, ^4iow do you manage to get 
on without your bureau-drawers ? ' ' 

She led the way to her closet. At one end 
had been a recess which was now filled with 
three deep drawers made by the handy carpen- 
ter who had constructed the table-top and legs. 



THE BEDEOOM 103 

These held what had been the contents of the 
banished bureau. As the drawers took up 
some of the hanging-space in the closet my 
friend had made the deficiency good by having 
two rows of double clothes-hooks screwed into 
the bottom of the closet shelf, thus making it 
possible to suspend two lines of gowns where 
heretofore there had been room for only one 
row. 

^^Now/' said the clever little woman, ^'I 
must show you where I have put that big old 
bureau which I disliked having in my room." 

She took me into the bathroom, and there 
stood the old-fashioned piece of furniture, cov- 
ered with a spotless scarf, and with brush, 
comb and hand-glass laid upon it, ^'so that 
when the children rush in here to wash for din- 
ner, they will be reminded to brush their hair 
and straighten their neck-gear.'^ 

And what impressed me as the greatest tri- 
umph of all, the soiled-clothes hamper had van- 
ished, and its contents had been transferred to 
bureau-drawers. The bottom drawer was for 
the bed-clothes, the next for the woolens, the 
third for the starched pieces, and the top and 



104 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

most shallow contained soiled handkerchiefs, 
collars and cuffs. 

While each household is supplied with a 
soiled-clothes hamper, — ^unless one has some 
such device as that adopted by my friend, — 
still it is well to keep in the bedroom closet a 
bag for the soiled handkerchiefs and for the 
collars and cuffs. I do not, however, especially 
advocate a shoe-bag. My experience, like that 
of the housewife I have just quoted, has been 
that the average shoe-bag has a way of getting 
top-heavy and emptying its contents upon the 
floor beneath it. To keep shoes in good shape 
shoe-trees are needed, and these simply will not 
stay in the bag-pockets. Therefore I have 
found no better place for shoes than the floor 
of the bedroom closet. Arranged here in or- 
derly rows, they are out of the way, and yet 
accessible. 

One cannot deal with cleanliness in every 
particular in the bedroom without touching on 
the chance of the housewife finding at some time 
in her career that horror of all her kind, — the 
creature named by fastidious persons with 
bated breath and under some such euphonious 



THE BEDEOOM 105 

title as ^^ scarlet runner," ^^ crimson rambler," 
or ^^B. B." Whatever lie is called, and wher- 
ever he is found, he is always that most odious 
of insects, a Bed-Bug. We may change his 
name, and speak of him in whispers, but that 
does not change his nature nor the fact that, 
to quote the slang of the day, he ^^gets there" 
occasionally in spite of all our efforts. Not 
that he is indigenous to the well-kept home, — 
perish the thought! — ^but that he is brought 
there in any one of a dozen unexpected ways. 
A laundress or other employee from an un- 
clean home, the village carpenter, or plumber, 
may bring him to your spotless abode ; he may 
come by express in a parcel of dry-goods from 
town, — for he often lurks in bales of muslin, — 
or you or a member of your family may, uncon- 
sciously, acquire his company on train or boat. 
In fact, his modes of transportation are so nu- 
merous, and his habits so persistent, that the 
wonder is we escape him as often as we do. But 
when he comes, he comes to stay if he possibly 
can. Eace suicide is not in his line, and his kind 
multiply with terrifying rapidity. I know of 
no other minor trouble that depresses the 



106 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

housekeeper as does the knowledge that she 
has harbored in her home for an hour the loath- 
some pest. For he is not easily routed, and 
the price of immunity from such vermin is 
eternal vigilance. Leave the creatures alone 
for a week after they have found a niche 
in which to hide, and you will have to work for 
many weeks before you can be sure that you 
have banished them. Even then there is al- 
ways the possibility that behind picture-mould- 
ing or base-board there may remain a few eggs 
which in the future will mean consternation to 
your housewifely mind. 

So, whether you have ever seen any of the 
vermin in your house or not, keep a keen eye 
open for them. If you find that they have got- 
ten into rooms or furniture, attack them vigor- 
ously, but not despairingly, for they can be 
destroyed. One of the best preparations for 
ridding a bed or other piece of furniture of them 
is a mixture made of a pint of wood alcohol, a 
pint of turpentine, an ounce of gum camphor 
and an ounce of bichloride of mercury. Shake 
the mixture until the mercury and camphor are 
dissolved. Cover your hands with thick rub- 



THE BEDROOM 107 

ber gloves, as tlie preparation will corrode the 
flesh and cause it to smart. . Pour the liquid 
into a long-nozzled oil-can and inject it into 
every crack and crevice of the infested article. 
This mixture is a deadly poison, so keep it out 
of the reach- of children and pet animals. 

Another remedy for the vermin is gasoline. 
This can be used freely, as it does not stain the 
most delicate wall-paper or injure any fabric. 
If you have found bugs in. your bedroom, re- 
move all the clothes from bed and closets, and, 
after examining them carefully, shake and 
brush them out-of-doors and leave them in the 
sun and air. Examine the mattress, especially 
the corners and tuftings and binding. If your 
bed is of iron enameled, or of brass, you 
should have no trouble in keeping it clean. 
Apply the gasoline to all the corners and 
joints, and pour it freely into the folds and 
tufted parts of the mattress. Inject it behind 
picture moulding and base-board, and into the 
cracks of the furniture. Do all this in broad 
daylight, and have no fire or artificial light in 
the room when using the gasoline. Now close 
doors and windows tightly and leave the room 



108 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

closed for twenty-four hours, if possible. Af- 
ter which air and sweep, burning all the dust 
gathered. It is well to apply the gasoline to 
any suspected places each week until you are 
certain you have banished the intruders, root 
and branch. 

In crowded apartment-houses in the city im- 
munity from these pests means constant suspi- 
cion and periodical applications of gasoline, as 
a preventive measure. But in the country or 
farm-house, one may fight them with a cer- 
tainty of winning the battle in the long run. 

The other pest which invades the country 
bedroom, — one that seems very innocent com- 
pared with the enemy we have just discussed, is 
the mosquito. There are preparations that are 
supposed to keep him away, pastilles which one 
may burn in the hope of smothering the insects, 
and washes which are supposed, because of 
their odor, to banish them. I would like to be 
able to say that I have seen these remedies rid 
a room of mosquitoes, but I have washed face 
and hands in various liquids, and burned pas- 
tilles until I, myself, have coughed and choked, 
then, after putting out the light, have heard the 



THE BEDROOM 109 

mosquitoes recommence their serenade about 
my prostrate form with a persistency worthy 
of a better cause. I advise the housewife, un- 
less she knows of some remedies better than 
those I have tried, to put her faith in well- 
screened windows, and to insist that no bright 
light shall bum in the bedrooms in the evening 
while the mosquito-season lasts. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE GUEST-CHAMBER 

There should be a guest-chamber in each 
house, — especially in each country house. The 
gracious old-fashioned hospitality is, I regret 
to say, going out of fashion. We have put in 
its place a kind of hospitality-by-contract sub- 
stitute which does not satisfy our hearts. In 
the city there may be excuse for this, — in fact, 
unless one entertains friends at teas, recep- 
tions, etc., there is no way of fulfilling her so- 
cial obligations. And in the average city 
apartment there is no room that can be spared 
for a guest-chamber. So one can seldom have 
a friend come and pay a visit of any length. 

But in the farm-house the case is, and should 
be, different. Even here, the hostess must 
draw a line, and try to distinguish between the 
guest who comes because she is a friend and 
loves one and one's home, and the visitor who 

110 




c 
o 

o 

P2 



THE GUEST-CHAMBER 111 

finds that home a pleasant place to stay when 
she needs country air and would save board. 
Do not extend a cordial invitation to such an 
one. She is not worthy of your hospitality. 

But for the friend of your heart, have a room 
always ready. I do not advocate keeping the 
choicest apartment in the house for the guest- 
chamber, for I feel that the people who use the 
rooms most should have the pleasantest rooms. 
But, on the other hand, I do disapprove of put- 
ting a guest in a chamber that is so dark, or so 
cold, or so hot, that no member of the family 
would be willing to occupy it. I recall a hand- 
some home in which the guest-room was on the 
north side of the house, and was never com- 
fortably warm from December to April. In 
this sumptuously furnished room there was a 
stationary washstand, but because of some 
flaw in the plumbing cold water ran from both 
faucets, and the guest, whose only comfortable 
moments spent in this room were when she was 
in bed, could not have the luxury of relieving 
chilled fingers by plunging them in warm water. 

To invite a friend to one's house and put her 
in such a cold storage compartment as the one 



112 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

I have described is inhospitable. If you have 
no warm room for her, then do not ask her to 
come until after the cold season is well over. 
But, when the summer arrives, do not put a 
guest in the one bedroom that is directly above 
the kitchen ! 

Perhaps the country-dweller hardly appreci- 
ates what her hospitality means to the friend 
who dwells in the midst of the noise and tur- 
moil of the city. Some years ago I was obliged 
to spend the first Summer months in town, and 
it so chanced that the weather during that pe- 
riod did its worst so far as heat was concerned. 
Heretofore I had spent all of the heated season 
in the mountains or by the sea-shore, and to my 
weary senses the days and nights were one 
round of noise, heat and dust. Then a friend 
wrote to me from her country-home, — -^^Come 
to us long enough to breathe and rest.'' 

Shall I ever forget the sensuous joy of that 
little visit, or the blessed peace of that first 
evening on the dark veranda when I was satis- 
fied to sit still and * listen to the silence'' 
broken only by the delicious sounds of the 
Summer night ! It was like a cool hand laid on 



THE GUEST-CHAMBEE 113 

a throbbing pain. I look back now to those two 
days spent in that simple country home as to 
one of the resting-spots in a busy life. 

And yet there were, apparently, no special 
preparations made for me. To be sure, I was 
met at the station by my cordial host, and the 
welcome that awaited me at the farm-house 
door was in itself compensation for the hot and 
dusty journey. My room was dainty with 
white curtains and fresh pillows, spotless coun- 
terpane, and many inviting linen towels. On 
the bureau was a vase holding a cluster of my 
favorite flowers. But there was nothing elab- 
orate, yet, when my hostess had left me to wash 
off the dirt of travel, and I had plunged face 
and arms in the cool water that I was sure had 
been put into the pitcher within the past hour, 
I drew a long breath and looked about me, whis- 
pering over and over, — *^ Delicious ! delicious !" 

It was a simple farm-house, and a plain, 
quiet little room. To my weary self it meant a 
peace and happiness that I could not have 
found in the palace of a multi-millionaire. 

So to my country reader I would urge that 
what your guests want when they come to you 



114 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

is just what you, and you only, can give them, 
— that is, your heart-felt welcome and your 
home in its natural state. They do not want 
elaborate preparations, with a disarrangement 
of your usual mode of living. Take them sim- 
ply and cordially into your home-life. 

But to return to the guest-room. Have it 
opened and aired every few days even when it 
is unoccupied, that there may be no close and 
musty odor about it. Be sure that all the ap- 
pointments are as comfortable as your purse 
can make them. Have two single beds, if this 
is your only spare room. Even if you expect 
but one guest, have both beds made up, as the 
effect of an unmade bed is always that of un- 
tidiness. When the room is not in use, throw a 
large sheet of unbleached muslin over each 
bed to exclude the dust, and have other 
articles of furniture similarly covered. If 
your chairs are upholstered, or cushioned, pro- 
vide pretty slips of green-and-white, or other 
cool-looking cretonne, for summer use. These 
always give a fresh appearance to a room in 
hot weather, and can be removed for the winter. 

Do not allow the drawers of the bureau in 



THE GUEST-CHAMBER 115 

this room to be the receptacles for the ^'best 
clothes'' or other articles belonging to the 
family, unless you are willing to go to the both- 
er of removing all of these things when you 
expect company. And do not have the closet 
filled with your own or your daughters' dresses. 
A visitor should find drawers empty and wait- 
ing to receive her belongings, and an abun- 
dance of unused hooks in a closet which she can 
appropriate for her clothing. 

If possible, have a writing desk in this apart- 
ment. Fit it out with ink, pens, blotters, paper, 
envelopes and stamps. If you have not a desk 
to spare, substitute for it a table, and put the 
above-mentioned articles in the drawer. 

Provide an easy chair or a rocker for your 
guest. It gives one a ^' homey" feeling to see 
a place where she may sit and read. 

And be sure to have a book-shelf, or a table 
on which are a variety of books. A young girl- 
friend of mine returned home after a visit of 
several days to a handsome city home. She 
said the house was beautiful, but her hostess 
was taken ill on the evening of her arrival, and 
she, herself, had been cruelly homesick. Her 



116 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

mother expressed surprise at this statement: 
^*You, Dorothy, homesick! Why, I am as- 
tonished, for you are always the kind of a girl 
who is happy when left to yourself with some 
books to read/' 

^^Ah,'' said the daughter, ^^ that was just 
where the trouble lay! In all that beautiful 
house there was actually not a book ! My host- 
ess cares nothing for reading, and her husband 
is too busy to look at any literature except the 
daily paper. I was thrown back upon myself, 
and when, after wandering through the house, 
I found nothing to read, — not even a Bible in 
my own room — I felt as if I were stranded on 
a desert island. "Were you ever,'' — turning to 
me, — '4n a house where there was not a book 
of any description? If not, you do not know 
what loneliness means." 

I do not want to know. To those of us who 
have lived among books and who love them, the 
very sight of their bindings and titles makes us 
feel as if we had silent friends and acquaint- 
ances even amid unfamiliar surroundings. 
Have some of these quiet comforters within 



THE GUEST-CHAMBER 117 

reach of your guest when she is alone in her 
room. 

A pretty custom is to choose one flower with 
which to decorate your guest-room and adhere 
to this scheme in all the furnishings. As an il- 
lustration I would like to describe a spare 
chamber which was arranged to suit the ideas 
of a hostess with whom hospitality is a part of 
her sweet and gracious self. 

The flower she chose was the violet, and the 
room in her country-home in which she put her 
friends was a symphony in color. The wall 
paper was of a delicate pearl-gray ground with 
violets in various positions strewn thickly over 
it. The carpet was of a dull green that ac- 
corded well with the green violet-leaves 
dropped here and there among the blossoms on 
the walls. The hangings were of cretonne 
covered with clusters of violets and their 
leaves; the same flowers were embroidered in 
white on the linen pillow slips. The duvet laid 
across the foot of the bed was of China silk, 
in the same design as the cretonne on the upper 
side, while the under side was pale purple 



118 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

in color. The china toilet set was sprinkled 
with the favorite flower, the towels were bor- 
dered with a violet-design, the chairs were cov- 
ered with cretonne like the hangings, and the 
bnreau-scarf and pin cushion were of the finest 
linen exquisitely embroidered in shaded violet 
silks. As long as violets were in season a little 
vase of them was on the bureau to greet the 
guest who was so fortunate as to arrive in this 
ideal home. The furnishings I have described 
were not costly, the room itself was nothing un- 
usual in the way of size, shape or beauty, but 
it was the thought of the gracious hostess which 
had made it lovely. In fact, she had put some 
of her own beautiful thoughts into her prepa- 
rations for the friends she hoped to receive into 
her home. 

The idea of giving of one's best to a guest is 
a proper one. Not, as I have said elsewhere, 
that one should change one's scheme of living 
for the visitor, but that one should always have 
ready a welcome and a pleasant place for the 
guest one delights to honor. 

The personal touch will mean much to the 
friend you are expecting. On the day of her 



THE GUEST-CHAMBER 119 

arrival pnt the room in order, making tlie bed 
with your finest sheets and pillow-slips, and 
covering it with the daintiest counterpane. 
Fill the pitcher, — after washing it thoroughly, 
— with fresh water, inspect all the toilet arti- 
cles, especially the soap-cup, — to be sure that 
no dust adheres to them, put a pretty bureau- 
scarf on the bureau, and place in attractive ar- 
ray hand-glass, brush and comb, and the 
other toilet requisites that belong there. If 
*^ thoughts are things'^ your friend will rest all 
the more sweetly in the room because you, who 
love her, made it ready for her occupancy. 

When you have a guest, steal away at twi- 
light, or let one of your daughters do so, long 
enough to take from the bed the dainty day- 
covering and put on a dimity night-spread. 
Open the bed, turning the covers half-down, 
close the shutters and bring in fresh water. 
See that a candle in a pretty candle-stick with 
a box of matches is on the little table at the 
head of the bed, and when your guest goes to 
her room for the night arrange to have a small 
pitcher of iced water, with a glass by it, set on 
her washstand. 



CHAPTEE IX 

THE NUBSERY 

I TAKE it for granted that the housewife for 
whom these chapters are written has children. 
I hope she has, and as the wish is father to the 
thought, I believe that she is a happy mother. 
As one, she appreciates to the full the necessity 
that the youngsters shall have a room of their 
own in which they can play and feel that they 
are ^^monarchs of all they survey.'^ 

If there are several children the room we are 
now to deal with should be a large one. It 
must also be bright and cheerful. Unfor- 
tunately, the ideal nursery is not found in every 
home. In the city, one cannot have such an 
one as one wants. But in God's own country, 
where space is not limited by brick walls on 
either side, and one's house has many rooms 
and several stories, one can forget the limita- 
tions of what the apartment-dweller knows as 

120 



THE NUESEEY 121 

the ' ' seven-room-and-a-bath-restrictions, ' ' and 
can have a genuine and satisfactory nursery 
for the small boys and girls. This room is, of 
course, designed especially for the very small 
children. The older ones may have rooms of 
their own. But before they cease to be the 
^ kittle ones" of the flock, they must have a do- 
main suited to their needs. 

Too often the nursery is, at best, but a play- 
room for the babies, so barely and so plainly 
furnished that one could hardly blame the small 
inmates if they occasionally showed signs of 
discontent and crept away to the more attrac- 
tive apartments of their elders. Grown people 
do not seem to appreciate that it makes much 
difference to the small boy or girl what his or 
her surroundings are, so long as the bodily 
comforts are not lacking, and some form of 
amusement is provided. This is a fallacy in 
most cases, and it casts a certain discredit upon 
the parents if the children have not been 
trained to like pretty things, to prefer an or- 
derly room to a disorderly one, to enjoy those 
objects which appeal to a love of the beautiful. 
From babyhood children can be trained to ap- 



122 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

predate articles which are in good taste, and if 
the nursery in which most of their hours in- 
doors are spent is what it should be, this appre- 
ciation of the fitness of things can be uncon- 
sciously cultivated. 

But before we treat the matter of nursery 
decoration, let us turn our attention to the hy- 
gienic conditions of the room. First of all 
must be taken into consideration the amount 
of sunshine it receives. If no other room in 
the house is provided with the life-preserving, 
health-producing sunlight, the nursery must be. 
The child's physical as well as his mental wel- 
fare demands sunshine. During the winter 
there are sure to be many days when the young- 
er members of the family must be closely 
housed. The nursery must admit some such 
sunshine as they revel in during the more 
kindly months when they can be out-of-doors 
through long golden days. 

Many farm-houses are now supplied with a 
hot air, or steam, or hot water heating appa- 
ratus. In such homes it is easy to regulate the 
atmosphere of the children's room. But in the 
country there are some homes in which the 



THE NUESERY 123 

rooms are all warmed by stoves. If prop- 
erly managed these stoves are admirable in 
their way, — that is, if they are not allowed to 
over-heat the various rooms. In spite of the 
fact that we Americans are surely, — although 
very slowly, — learning the evils of over-heated 
homes, there are still farm-houses in which 
the over-fed, iron, oxygen-destroying monster 
holds absolute sway. Some years ago I en- 
tered the sick-room of a child in a stove-ruled 
home. The night was cold, and the child's crib 
was close by the reddened stove. The mother 
explained to me that her small daughter was 
susceptible to cold, and on that account she 
was never allowed to sleep far from the fire. 

*'But," declared the perplexed parent, ^^she 
catches cold whenever I let her go out-of- 
doors.'' 

At that moment the oppressed lungs were 
struggling in the over-heated atmosphere and 
the needed rest was broken by the uncomfort- 
able heat of the room. There was no use in my 
attempting to explain this fact to the ignorant 
mother. The child was hers, — so was the 
stove. If she chose to have them meet to- 



124 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

gether, and all but kiss each other, it was none 
of my business. We would-be reformers of 
well-meaning and self-satisfied parents soon 
learn the uselessness of interfering in such a 
state of affairs as I have just described. Our 
comfort must lie in the hope that the special 
Providence that is purported to look after the 
lame and the lazy may extend its care to all 
classes. Certain it is that children of ignorant 
parents grow up in spite of lack of ventilation, 
food unsuited to their needs, and other atroc- 
ities prevalent in their homes. Perhaps it is 
well for us that we do not stop to inquire too 
particularly into the physique and health of 
the men and women which these children be- 
come. In this case ignorance is bliss. 

But to return to our muttons — or to our 
lambs — in the well-regulated household. Here 
the nursery is heated, — ^not over-heated, — 
and the temperature is properly restrained. 
The thermometer hovers between sixty-five 
and seventy, with a preference for the lower 
figure. Children are active little creatures 
and should not play in a room where the 
thermometer rises above sixty-five, as ex- 



THE NURSEEY 125 

ercise causes them to become over-heated. 
Several times during the day turn the young- 
sters out of the room, and open all the win- 
dows for ten minutes. As soon as it is 
again comfortably warm the children may 
return to the purified and freshened at- 
mosphere. Hang the thermometer about six 
feet from the floor and not near the windows 
or heater. It must always be remembered that 
there is a draught close to the floor, and that 
here the temperature is certain to be lower than 
it is a few feet higher up. The small child 
sits on the floor to play, and, as this is unavoid- 
able, have really good weather-stripping se- 
curely fastened across the bottoms of the doors 
and at the bottoms and sides of the windows. 
If one's purse permits, it is an excellent plan 
to have double-windows in the nursery during 
the winter months. The children delight in 
standing close to the panes, gazing out into the 
frost-bound air from which they are debarred. 
Double-windows and weather-strips lessen the 
chances of cold from this much-enjoyed prac- 
tice. In summer the danger to be feared from 
the ever-attractive windows is the fascination 



126 FROM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

for the youngster in leaning as far out as pos- 
sible to acquaint himself with exactly what is 
going on in the bit of ground immediately be- 
neath him. For the child's safety, and for the 
mother's peace of mind, a guard of some kind 
is necessary, and a light, but strong, iron rail- 
ing is advisable for this purpose, as it makes 
falling out impossible, and yet does not ob- 
struct the view, a bo z^-^nih ^t^^u: -j^n^^xi 

The proper shades for the nursery windows 
are dark green in color, for those next to the 
glass, although white ones may be used towards 
the room. The green shades are essential, as, 
when drawn down, they will admit no light to 
the sensitive eyes of the youthful sleepers. 
Some mothers do not appreciate the injury that 
may be inflicted upon the eyes of a young child 
by the light shining upon them during sleep. 
The nursery should, therefore, be dark until the 
babies awake in the morning, and deeply shad- 
ed while they take their noon-day nap. Do not 
have long window-hangings in this room. 
They are out of place here, as they gather dust, 
and are constantly tripping the little feet that 
trot to and from the windows. Muslin sash- 



THE NUESERY 127 

curtains are the only draperies necessary. If 
run upon small brass rods, they slip back and 
forth easily, make a pretty finish for the win- 
dows, and may be removed and laundered 
whenever they are soiled. Oross-barred or 
dotted muslin at twenty-five cents a yard will 
prove entirely satisfactory for this purpose, 
and two yards will make a pair of sash-curtains 
for a large window, a^ni 

The wall-covering for the nursery may be a 
pretty paper, and there are nursery-papers 
that are charming in design. Personally, how- 
ever, I would advise that the side-walls be fin- 
ished with a hard paint. Paper tears easily, 
collects dust and germs, and, worst of all, can- 
not be thoroughly cleansed. One can get a 
pretty shade of paint, a good buff, or gray, or 
if desired a light blue. If one prefers dark 
colors, they can be bought, but a nursery should 
not be somber in effect. The painted side- 
walls can be finished at the top, next to the ceil- 
ing, with any one of the attractive nursery-pa- 
per-borders so fashionable nowadays. One I 
saw recently bore pictures of the various 
Noah's Ark animals, marching along in pairs. 



128 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

Another had fascinating Kate Greenaway pic- 
tures. Put such a border on the painted walls 
and the result will be excellent. Then if the 
little hands are sticky or dirty and leave marks 
on the painted surface, these marks can be 
scrubbed or washed off, whereas a delicate pa- 
per would be spoiled. 

Stain the floor, — unless it is of hard wood. 
A large rug made of ingrain carpet, or of Brus- 
sels in soft, unremarkable shades and designs, 
may be used. Some mothers insist upon rugs, 
others upon carpets, while others claim that 
matting is ^Hhe only wear.'' I would here pro- 
test against this last-named floor-covering in 
the nursery, and I speak from experience. I 
was once persuaded to lay a straw matting in 
my own babies' nursery. A friend advised 
this, saying that it was ^*cool and clean for the 
hot weather." It was put down in May. By 
the first of July the patter of small feet back 
and forth over it had broken some of the 
strands of fine straw, and the chubby knees of 
my creeping baby had each night upon their 
rotund surfaces a plentiful crop of splinters 
and slivers. The little ones would run over 



THE NUESEEY 129 

the floor on warm nights and mornings, without 
waiting to don bed-side slippers, and frequent 
were the exclamations of pain as the sharp 
points of the broken straws ran into the tender 
flesh. Mother and nurse became adepts in re- 
moving splinters, and both they and the little 
sufferers were glad when the Autunm came, 
and with it another floor-covering. 

The great objection brought against a car- 
pet is that it is not hygienic, and its opponents 
have much that is right on their side. It has, 
however, the advantage of warmth. A rug has 
a tendency to trip the child as he rushes across 
it, and, as one youngster complains, it is ^^all 
the time kicking up around the edges. ^' One 
mother has a good scheme. She lays upon her 
nursery floor a large rug lined with coarse flan- 
nel, that it may be thick and warm, and this 
rug reaches almost to the wall all about the 
room. At each corner and at the middle of 
each side it is fastened to the floor by a long 
^^ thumb tacf These tacks hold it in place, 
while the rug is too near the walls for anyone to 
catch his foot in the edge. When desired the 
tacks may be easily drawn out and the rug 



130 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

thoroughly beaten and shaken in the outer air. 

It is a mistake to have the covering that is 
upon the floor of this combination playroom 
and nursery so handsome that the mother 
dreads to have the little feet wear it out, or so 
costly that she will be distressed when she hears 
that Bobby has upset the glass of paint-water, 
or Nelly overturned the jar of flour paste upon 
it. While the children should be taught to be 
careful, accidents will occur, and even big peo- 
ple sometimes upset things that do more dam- 
age than paint-water or paste, and are not so 
easily washed out. hlhh ^rii -^^ 

I would suggest that, if it is possible to have 
the washstand and toilet set elsewhere than in 
the nursery, it be excluded from this apartment. 
If one have a wash-closet or bathroom opening 
from this room she is fortunate. The china 
bowl, pitcher and slop jar are either a great 
restraint upon childish frolics, or they stand a 
good chance of having to be replaced several 
times during the year by new ones, as they are 
pretty sure to come to grief sooner or later. 
Then, too, the water has a most uncomfortable 
way of spilling at the most inopportune mo- 



- - THE NUESEEY 131 

ments. Therefore, if possible, eliminate the 
washstand from the scheme of nnrsery furnish- 
ing. -|ii£d-'...-.^-^ ; r..^:.. -^v.;.- 

One cannot always afford to bny o^nfeo^ 
low bureaux that come especially for the small 
childv So, as in many cases where one has no 
more money than she needs, one must make the 
best of what she has. A chiffonier that is 
shabby can be scraped down and painted with 
white enamel paint, the drawers furnished 
with brass handles, and the whole affair made 
into a pretty receptacle for the children's cloth- 
ing. I suggest a chiffonier, because it contains 
a greater number of drawers than does a bu- 
reau, and is consequently more convenient for 
stowing away the numerous articles of clothing 
of which the average small child is possessed. 
The mirror can be taken from this chiffonier, 
as it is entirely too high for use among the little 
ones, and it may be hung above a dressing table 
covered with pretty cretonne. On this dress- 
ing table may be laid the brushes, combs, pow- 
der-boxes, etc. on ^d 

The children can and should be taught while 
still very young to keep their clothing properly 



132 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

laid away where it belongs. Even if the moth- 
er has to rearrange, let the child think that he 
has the responsibility of putting away his own 
coat and hat, mittens, rubbers, and other pieces 
of wearing apparel. The mother may make a 
tour of inspection each day, and commend or 
censure as she finds order, or the reverse. In 
one family there is a system of marks, and 
there is among the children a weekly struggle 
to attain the high distinction of having no de- 
merit marks for seven days. Each article of 
clothing found out of place means one of these 
objectionable marks. Each child that is old 
enough to run about has his own special bureau 
drawer. Since the plan in question was adopt- 
ed the **bump'^ of neatness seems to have de- 
veloped among the youngsters. 

A large screen, such as the one mentioned in 
the chapter on The Bedroom, should be in the 
nursery, and can be put between the beds and 
the open window at night. It must have wide, 
heavy feet, that it may not tip or blow over eas- 
ily, and can be covered with cretonne. During 
the daytime, or when not in use, it can be folded 
and set out of the way. The ideal bedstead 



THE NUESEEY 133 

for the nursery is of brass, or, what is cheaper, 
and very pretty, of white enamel with brass 
trimmings. Where there are two children, 
have two single beds in preference to a double 
one. Viewed from a sentimental or poetical 
standpoint, there is something very pretty in 
the idea of the two rosy faces side-by-side on 
the snowy pillow, and of the chubby arms of one 
child about the neck of the other. But stern 
common sense and harsh experience have 
taught us that while sentiment is all very well 
it does not prevent a feverish cold from being 
infectious, or guard Willie from ^^ catching'^ 
Johnnie's diphtheritic sore throat. When it is 
possible, children must occupy separate beds. 
Both will sleep the better for this arrangement. 
Each bed should be furnished with a good firm 
mattress, under which may go a spring bed. 
Springs add to the comfort of the sleeper, but 
I have known children who have never slept on 
them to slumber peacefully upon a thick mat- 
tress laid right on the bed-slats. Only one pil- 
low, — and that not a large one — must be on 
each couch. A high pillow has a tendency to 
cause round shoulders. If a child has been 



134 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

taught from birth to sleep without any pillow, 
he will, perhaps, be the better for the habit. 
If, however, the head is raised, let it be only a 
little way. Have the pillow thin, and covered 
with a fine cambric or linen slip. The bed 
clothes must be light, yet warm. Soft, fleecy 
blankets and down duvets are best for the little 
child. >liiq xwoiM t^il^ 

While the crib with side-railings gives the 
mother of a restless child much peace of mind, 
these railings are not necessary and make a 
bed more expensive. It is marvelous how soon 
a mere baby learns not to roll too near the edge 
of his cot. )^^^^ ^-^^ 

As to the chairs in this room, they can be of 
whatever pattern the mother chooses. But 
there should always be one comfortable rocker 
into which ^ ^ mamma '^ may drop, and in which 
she may ^^ cuddle" in her arms the hurt or 
weary child. While rocking a baby to sleep is 
a pernicious practice, the mother must some- 
times allow herself the luxury of holding her 
little one for a few minutes in her arms, and 
telling it a story or talking to it the delicious 
nonsense dear to both. And in no other chair 



THE NUESEEY 135 

can this be done so well as in a great big rocker. 
Nothing else takes its place. --^^ ^- "^ 

*^The Land of the Eocking-Chairl'V How 
many of us recall it with a sigh that is almost a 
sob! When things go awry, and we are so 
weary that we feel that the grasshopper is a 
burden, do not many of us men and women wish 
we could be children again ^'just for to-night,'^ 
and does not each of us recall a certain room in 
which, in the twilight or fire-light, a dear form 
sat in a big rocking-chair, and does not each 
of us remember the pressure of those arms 
about us, the gentle, swaying motion of the 
old chair, and the sound of the dear 
voiqe that had magic to charm away our 
childish troubles and bring back the laugh to 
baby lips? .jiu^.; u 

^^>One of the most perplexing questions with 
which the order-loving mother has to contend 
is to decide where to put the children's toys. 
If placed in the nursery-closet, they keep the 
floor in an unsightly litter and the dust gath- 
ers upon them, and under them. The most con- 
venient device that I have ever seen for the 
disposal of playthings was a trunk-lounge, 



136 FKOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

seven feet in length, three feet wide, and three 
feet deep. To this was a hinged top. The box 
was covered with dark green reps, and on the 
lid was fitted and securely fastened a hair- 
mattress, also covered with green reps. Into 
this really ornamental piece of furniture the 
toys were stowed away at night, it being the 
children's duty to pick up everything off the 
floor and put it away in a neat and orderly man- 
ner. They became accustomed to this task and 
performed it with perfect cheerfulness and a 
delightfully pleasant conviction that they were 
^^ helping Mamma.'' Upon this same lounge 
there were several pillows of bright colors, and 
a folded afghan, and here the weary mother 
often snatched a twilight nap after ^Hucking 
in" the babies. 

Make a point of having only good pictures 
upon the walls of the nursery. Chromos that 
are atrocious in color and design should be ex- 
cluded. One may buy cheap engravings of 
really fine pictures that can be neatly and taste- 
fully framed. Choose subjects that will inter- 
est the children and talk to them about them, 
and make them familiar with the names of the 



THE NUESERY 137 

artists. In this way, as well as in many others, 
the little ones will learn to observe, and will 
take in learning by absorption, unconsciously 
cultivating the eye as well as the intellect. 

One other very necessary article of nursery 
furniture is a set of hanging book-shelves. 
These may be of pine, painted bright red, with 
black lines. On these go the favorite books of 
the little folk. 

Against the wall under the book-rack can 
stand a small deal table, covered with a colored 
cloth when not in use. On this, when the cloth 
is removed, the children may ^^mess" with their 
paints, may paste and cut out pictures. As the 
table is plain and unvarnished, of the ordinary 
kitchen-type, it can be scrubbed as often as re- 
quired and the youngsters can decorate picture- 
papers and make scrap-books without fear of 
spoiling nice furniture. On this table, at sup- 
per-time, may be laid a white cloth, and here 
the little children in the well-ordered household 
take their six o'clock supper. 

This early and simple supper for the small 
children should be insisted upon by the wise 
mother. I cannot close this chapter which 



138 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

deals with the nursery and its inmates without 
urging this plan upon my readers who are so 
fortunate as to be mothers. I would also urge 
them to give serious thought to the matter of 
the children's diet. .: j^uu^ 

It is best for the child to learn from the first 
to eat his breakfast porridge with an abundance 
of milk, but with little, if any, sugar. Follow- 
ing this, let him have a soft-boiled or poached 
egg, varied occasionally by creamed or broiled 
fish or, if he digests it easily, a thin slice of 
crisp bacon. Of course other meat may some- 
times be eaten in the morning, as may poultry 
also, but if the child is to have meat at the noon- 
day meal it is quite unnecessary for breakfast. 
With the egg should be given delicately- 
browned toast, and in Winter a cup of hot co- 
coa. In Summer, milk is to be preferred to the 
warm beverage. When a hearty breakfast has 
been eaten, the child may have a ripe orange, 
peach or apple, and even grapes are to be al- 
lowed if the skins and seeds are conscientiously 
avoided. 

The dinner for children under nine years of 
age should be at noon. As the repast is a sim- 



, . THE NUESEEY 139 

pie one, it is not as much trouble as one might 
think, even in the home where the regular din- 
ner is served at night. A bowl of broth from 
the dinner-supply of the evening before can be 
reserved for this noon-day meal, and it is not 
an arduous task to broil a tender steak or a few 
chops, and to bake potatoes or boil rice in the 
middle of the day, "With these and a simple 
pudding the well-trained child will be satisfied. 

Every dish should be daintily cooked and 
should be selected with an especial view to its 
nourishing qualities. The mother must plan so 
that the little folks have a constant variety and 
are never allowed to weary of any one dish. 
All pastries and fried foods and boiled pud- 
dings must be forbidden articles of diet for 
many years to come. An endless number of di- 
gestible and nourishing desserts can be pre- 
pared of rice, tapioca, hominy, macaroni, stale 
bread-crumbs, eggs and milk. Sponge cake 
with jam or jelly is nearly always a welcome 
sweet. When soup and meat are eaten at noon, 
milk as a beverage is unnecessary and the small 
child will be content with cold (not iced) water. 

The scheme which I have advocated of hav- 



140 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

ing the simple supper served at six o'clock in 
the nursery should commend itself to the busy 
house-wife. If her dining-room has been pre- 
pared for dinner, the table set, and all in read- 
iness for the evening repast, she will find it a 
convenience to have the children's supper car- 
ried on a tray to the nursery and arranged 
there on the deal table above-mentioned. This 
supper must be a very simple affair but will, 
nevertheless, tax the ingenuity of the mother 
if she would have a varied menu and one that, 
because of this variety, will tempt the appetite. 
Try to have something different for each night 
in the week. A supper menu something like 
the following for one week would be palatable 
and nourishing : 

Monday; rice and milk. Tuesday; bread and 
jam. Wednesday; cream toast. Thursday; 
bread and butter and stewed prunes. Friday; 
toast and apple sauce. Saturday; hominy and 
milk. Sunday ; bread and butter, sponge cakes 
and fruit jelly. 

With these repasts serve a pitcher of rich, 
sweet milk, insisting that the children sip it, 
instead of drinking it rapidly. 



THE NUESERY 141 

When the supper has been comfortably dis- 
posed of, the dishes may be carried down to be 
washed, the cloth removed and folded up, and 
the children's supper can be dismissed from 
the maternal mind. This plan is enjoyed by 
the little ones, and, by the time that the regu- 
lar evening meal is ready, they are tucked 
safely in bed and asleep, — ^which is just what 
very little children need when night falls. To 
the weary mother there is a pleasant conscious- 
ness that she may linger as long as she likes 
over her supper or dinner, without any con- 
science-pricks or compunctions with regard to 
the babies, which would not be the case if, after 
her own meal, she must still undress them and 
put them to bed. For the comfort of all con- 
cerned, let the little ones have their supper in 
the nursery. At other meals they may be at 
the dining-room table with the *^ grown-ups. '* 

While on the subject of the nursery and all 
that pertains to it, I would add that in Summer 
the children should not be encouraged to re- 
main in this room during the day-light hours. 
At such times, the nursery is but a place in 
which they may sleep, dress and take one meal. 



142 FROM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

At other times let the little boys and girls live 
as much as possible out-of-doors. But make 
the nursery so attractive that when the stormy 
and cold days arrive the little shut-ins will feel 
that they have a lovely room of their very own, 
and not a gloomy prison in which they are con- 
fined. 



CHAPTER X 

THE boys' room 

The room occupied by the half -grown, or 
nearly-grown lads of the household is a very 
different thing from the nursery in which the 
little brothers and sisters hold sway. I wish 
I could say that the average boy has an ideal 
room, but he has not. It is distressing to note 
in how many homes this apartment is a sort of 
catch-all for the furniture that is too shabby to 
be used in other parts of the house, and yet is 
so nearly good that it hurts the conscience of 
the frugal householder to throw it away or give 
it away. The bureau that, when bought, was 
an inferior article, and is now minus one caster 
and three drawer-knobs; the chairs with the 
broken rungs and rickety backs; the bed that 
^ ^ sags ' ' in the middle ; the pictures that are too 
ugly to be tolerated down-stairs, — often form 
a large part of the ^^ boys' room.'' 

143 



144 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

Of course a lad is supposed to spend much 
of his day out of the house. From nine to 
twelve, and from one to three, he is off at school, 
and if he can spare the time from his studies 
he is away a great part of the afternoon, tramp- 
ing the country, skating, shooting, or indulging 
in some open-air sport. But there are stormy 
days when he comes home as soon as school is 
over ; there are many days in which his studies 
preclude the possibility of his staying away 
from home ; and there are the long evenings in 
which he should be at home, and in which he 
wants occasionally to be alone to study or read. 
At such times he must be in his room. If it is 
shared with a brother near his own age, they 
will often rebel, — not in your hearing, perhaps, 
— at the ^* cast-offs'' that you have seen fit to 
set up in their apartment. Or, worse still, they 
may become so accustomed to the shabby ar- 
ticles, or may care so little for their own room, 
that they will pay no attention to the fact of its 
unprepossessing appearance. When this time 
arrives, look well to the boys, for they are be- 
coming weaned from the family life and the 
Home. 




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o 



61) 



g 

a; 
ft 

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THE BOYS' BOOM 145 

It is manifestly unfair for a lad to have a 
room of which he is so much ashamed that 
he hesitates to ask a friend to come into it. 
A young fellow likes to feel that he has a 
place, a nook, or corner, that is his very own. 
As your home is your castle, his room is his. 
It is your place to make it as attractive as 
your purse will permit, always bearing in 
mind the nature of the occupant of the apart- 
ment. Dainty coverings, delicate draperies 
and rose-colored curtains are not for him. 
Everything must be substantial, and not easily 
soiled. I regret to be obliged to record the 
fact that the average boy from ten to eighteen 
is not over-fond of cleanliness, and his hands 
are usually smutty, and his boots are often 
muddy. Moreover he has a way of tossing 
a dusty coat on his couch, a sweater on the 
bed, and a cap on the bureau, while the shoes 
go, to use his language, ^4n any old place ^^ 
that happens to be convenient. If you are a 
wise mother you will train him in habits of neat- 
ness, but it will have to be line upon line, pre- 
cept upon precept, and even then he will be 
more untidy than is his fastidious sister. 

10 



146 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

Select therefore for his room stout, durable 
articles. Get a plain iron, white enameled bed. 
If the paint gets scratched off, encourage him 
to re-paint the iron. He can do it, and will 
take pride in the job, if his room is attractive 
enough to make it worth while. A plain, but 
neat, set of book-shelves on which he can keep 
his best-loved books are necessary. These 
shelves may be made of pine, and stained. 
About eighteen inches below the ceiling, — less 
than that if the ceiling is low — ^have what is 
known as a ^ Opiate-rail,'^ or a wide shelf to hold 
bits of bric-a-brac, or what pass for such with 
the boy; pictures, curios, etc. This shelf may 
be made of pine, and stained cherry or ma- 
hogany color. Every lad has ^^ trophies" of 
some sort that he loves to set where they will 
show. Suppose he does bring home lumps of 
yellow fungus, and odd bits of rock, pine-cones 
and bird-nests; — if he wants them as orna- 
ments (?) for his room, do not say him nay. 
Each of these cherished belongings causes his 
own abode to seem that much dearer to him, 
that much more his own. 



THE BOYS' EOOM 147 

Yes, I know all these things make what you 
call ^'a mess/' but they also make for the love 
of Home, so let them pass. Visit the boy's 
room often, and show that you are interested in 
his various *^ collections." 

Is there a normal boy who does not collect? 
And such a mass of various things compose 
what he calls his ^^ curios I" One month it is 
post-cards, another pebbles, another horse- 
shoes and later coins. What mother of sons 
does not know about this kind of mania? In 
one household of boys there were started at va- 
rious times collections of coins, stamps, mono- 
grams, shells, odd stones, inch-high tin toys, 
girls' handkerchiefs, photographs, birds '-nests, 
birds' eggs, beads, odd buttons, craw-j&sh and 
turtles! The devoted mother did not utter a 
word of protest until the entrance of the rep- 
tiles upon the scene. Then, even her maternal 
devotion was tried beyond endurance, and she 
suggested gently that the ^^poor little creatures 
would be very uncomfortable when deprived of 
the open air and free life." And, as she was 
usually so sympathetic with the joys of the 



148 FROM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

^^ collector" that she was ^^ almost as good as a 
boy,'' her advice carried weight and the live 
stock was banished from the lads' room. 

Have a good firm couch in this room. If you 
have not a trunk-lounge to spare, use a cheap 
cot, — but a strong one. Or on six uprights or 
staunch legs nail a board, or several boards 
side-by-side, to form a bench or couch of the 
width the boy wants. Cover this with a casing 
filled with hay, unless you have a small mat- 
tress that is not in use. Nail fast this impro- 
vised couch-cushion, and throw over all a 
bright-colored cover. Slumber-robes of gay 
hues, that are pretty and harmonious, can be 
bought for a dollar or two, and are very effec- 
tive. Here lay several cushions with the kind 
of covers that the boy likes. If possible, have 
one made of his school-colors, another of his 
favorite college-colors. On the painted walls 
allow him to hang his rifle and pennants of va- 
rious kinds. Across hooks can go his fishing- 
poles. You may not care for the effect, but he 
will. He will also delight in dashing pictures, 
and engravings of Frederic Remington's fa- 



THE BOYS' EOOM 149 

mous works will please him and cultivate Ms 
eye for really good drawing. If he wishes any 
hangings in the room, let him have fish-net cur- 
tains at the windows, and portieres of a denim 
that will correspond with the other colors in the 
room. I know of one room in which the young 
inmate rejoiced, for the decorations were of a 
vivid red that his soul loved. The walls were 
painted a light gray, but the curtains and por- 
tieres were of Turkey-red. The floor was 
stained a dark oak color, and the rugs on the 
floor had been made by the mother's own fin- 
gers. They were of turkey red, cut into strips 
and sewed together as our grandmothers used 
to sew carpet-rags. The village weaver wove 
them into round rugs. Turkey-red cushions 
were on the couch, and, while the bureau was 
dressed with a white scarf, the ends of this were 
outlined with red poppies done in silk, and a 
gorgeous red satin pin-cushion made a splash 
of color in the center of the white expanse. 
Every lad has a strain of the savage in his 
make-up, and the brilliant coloring satisfied that 
side of this particular boy's nature. As he 



150 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

grew to be a man his tastes became more sober, 
but the red room of his boyhood was, in his eyes, 
a thing of beauty. 

When you know what your son likes in the 
way of decoration, try to humor this liking, al- 
though it is not in accordance with your taste, 
— for lots of things that boys and men like we 
women do not care for. That does not alter 
the fact that they have a right to indulge a 
taste that is harmless and reasonable. 

A trite statement is the one that declares that 
if one would keep a boy at home one must make 
home attractive. But it is so true that every 
mother should bear it in mind. If the average 
masculine is to stay in the house when time 
hangs on his hands, that house must be at- 
tractive. And in that house he must be allowed 
to find amusement of some sort. The best- 
trained young people are in certain ways like 
other young creatures, and they want fun, and 
will try to get it. It is as natural for them to 
seek an outlet for their active thoughts as it 
is for you to put into practice the work you have 
planned for each day. So the parent must let 



THE BOYS' EOOM 151 

the boy have some recreation that he loves at 
home. 

If therefore your lad wants to learn to play 
the violin, and to practice ear-splitting strains 
in his own room, allow him to do it. Shut your 
door and your ears, if you can, but rejoice that 
you know where the lad is and what he is do- 
ing. If he brings friends home and they box 
or fence up in the *^ boys' room/' it is proof 
positive that your son feels he has a right to 
do this in his own domain, and that his friends 
find that domain a pleasant place. Determine 
to smile and not frown at the sounds of laugh- 
ter, perhaps of singing, and ask to be allowed 
to hear the latest record bought for the phono- 
graph, — even if you do not like the phonograph 
itself. If it is the boy's, and it helps keep him 
at home, you should like it, — ^not for its sound, 
but for its effect. 

In many homes there is a mistake made with 
regard to the sons of the family. This mistake 
lies in thinking that the girls should keep things 
in order, and that the boys have no responsi- 
bilities in that line. Train your boys to feel 



152 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

that with them rests, to some extent, the duty 
of ^^straightening up'' their room every day. 
Let the maid, or the mother or sisters, make 
the bed, empty the slops, and do the sweeping 
and dusting. But the boys should put away 
their clothes and shoes, hang up coats and hats, 
keep books and papers in order, and keep the 
closet and chiffonier-drawers neat. To allow 
a boy to throw clothing about his room, and 
have some woman pick it up for him, is to per- 
mit habits that will make him careless in 
greater matters and will lay many an extra 
burden on the shoulders of the wife he may 
some day have. 



CHAPTEE XI 

THE BATH ROOM 

I AM aware that there are farm-houses in 
which what are known as ^^ modern improve- 
ments'' are lacking. I am sorry that this is 
the case. One man has said that if he can have 
the luxuries of life he will dispense with the 
necessities. One is tempted to echo his speech 
when one thinks of living all the year around 
without a bath room, — a luxury that to the per- 
son accustomed to it seems a necessity. 

And yet, even in the house where there is no 
running water, one may have an improvised 
bath-room on the first floor. With this let us 
deal for a moment before passing on to the 
house with plumbing and hot and cold water. 

In one farm-house there is a little space par- 
titioned oif at the end of the long back veranda. 
A door leads into this from the back-hall of the 
house. This small room has been fitted out 

153 



154 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

plainly, almost rudely, with bath-room appli- 
ances. At one side of the room is a pump con- 
nected with a pipe from the well, and a small 
tank above it can be filled by using this hand- 
pump. Of course there is no warm water, but 
there are persons who like the cold plunge, and 
if one has energy enough to pump enough water 
for a bath one may have it. In winter, this 
room is almost useless, as to keep it warm 
enough to prevent the water or pipes freezing 
one must burn an oil stove in it day and night. 
But in summer one longs for the luxury of the 
plunge bath, and then this room can be used. 

If one cannot have even this ^^near-luxury'' 
there should be in every home a tin bath-tub 
large enough for a grown person to bathe in. 
This has to be filled by water carried from the 
kitchen stove and pump, but the person who 
loves bathing will go to all this exertion sooner 
than miss the joy of frequent ablutions. In 
such a case a clothes-boiler full of water should 
stand at the back of the range all the time, 
and must be replenished as soon as its contents 
become low. 

While I have been writing about the impro- 



THE BATH EOOM 155 

vised bath-room, I have been hoping that the 
housekeeper who reads this book need not re- 
sort to the suggested expedient, but has a com- 
fortable bath-room in her house. I am not ex- 
aggerating when I say that one might better 
economize on clothes than on this comfort. 
Farmers do not always appreciate this fact. 
I knew one well-to-do farmer, whose daughter 
and wife dressed handsomely, who gave this 
same wife and daughter expensive presents of 
jewelry and wearing apparel, who had a pair 
of handsome carriage horses and a stylish 
equipage, and yet would not have plumbing put 
into his house. His parents had never had it, 
why should he? Neither had his parents had 
the horse-rake, or the reaper, or the lawn- 
mower which was used daily on his farm. But 
it was useless to argue with him, and as long as 
he lived all the water needed in the bed-rooms 
was carried up by hand, while all the soiled 
water was carried down in the same way. 
Think of the strain on back and arms, — and all 
because running water in the house was con- 
sidered an unnecessary expense ! 
Yes, if one has to do without some other 



156 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

things, have a bath-room. The fixtures need 
not be of the most expensive style, but they 
should be serviceable. A porcelain-lined tub 
costs much less than an entire porcelain one, 
and when painted white on the outside looks 
nearly as well. If one has a wind-mill or an 
engine to pump water into the house, one is for- 
tunate. If not, pay a boy a small sum every 
week to use the hand-pump (which fills the 
tank) for a fixed period of time each day. 
What that time will be must be determined by 
experiment. It should be long enough to en- 
sure the tank-water lasting until the next pump- 
ing. One soon learns not to waste water under 
such conditions, and the country housewife is 
too careful to allow the precious fluid to run or 
drip from a forgotten tap, as her city sister 
does with impunity. 

If you have one of the old-fashioned zinc- 
lined bath-tubs you must exercise great care 
in keeping it clean. It is not as easy to wash 
as is porcelain, and it is well to have a rule in 
the family that each person using the tub shall 
wash it out before leaving the room. For this 
purpose have behind the tub, out of sight, sev- 



THE BATH EOOM 157 

eral hooks on which hang cloths to be used in 
this cleansing process. A dish containing a 
scouring powder or soap may stand on the floor 
under or behind the tub. The bowl of the wash- 
stand, as well as that of the water-closet, must 
be washed out each day. For the latter, one 
may use a mop with a wooden stick, adding a 
little bi-chloride of lime to the rinsing water. 
This will keep the bowl white and clean. It is 
well to pour scalding water down all the pipes 
every two or three days, — oftener in warm 
weather. 

Housewives sometimes complain of the dark 
ring that collects on the inside of the white tub, 
and that will not wash off with soap or hot 
water. To remove this, rub it well with kero- 
sene, and leave the oil on for an hour, then run 
very hot water into the tub and scrub the kero- 
sene off with a stiff brush dipped in whiting. 
The grease and dirt will come off together. 
The same treatment may be used to scour the 
wash-bowl. 

Get a washable cotton rug for the bath-room 
floor. Hang above the tub a crash bath-mat 
to be laid upon this rug by the bather to pro- 



158 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

tect it from the splashing of the water and from 
the bather's wet feet when he steps from the 
water. A rubber tube, with a rose-spray at- 
tached, should hang at the side of the tub that 
one may have the cold spray after a warm bath. 
Of course if one is so fortunate as to have a 
regular shower-bath attachment one can dis- 
pense with the adjustable spray. 

If possible, have a glass shelf over the wash- 
stand. If not, have a narrow shelf of pine, and 
tack white oilcloth smoothly over this. On this 
shelf set the tooth-brush mugs, the glasses, and 
toilet-water bottles. It is well to keep a bottle 
of household ammonia in the room, as it is use- 
ful in cleansing toilet articles, and is also good 
as a disinfectant and purifier. Other fixtures, 
such as towel-rods, racks or rings, drinking- 
glass-racks, toilet-paper holder or case, etc., 
may be added as one wishes. These articles are 
usually of nickel, and one must wipe them off 
daily if she would have them keep their bright 
and clean appearance. The average maid will 
let them alone for a fortnight at a time, then 
will scour them with cleansing powders and 
wonder that they do not look bright. To wipe 



THE BATH EOOM 159 

them, and rub them briskly with flannel or 
chamois-skin for a moment each day, is the bet- 
ter plan. 

Have a sash-curtain over the lower half of 
the window, run on a brass rod, so that it will 
slip easily back and forth. As the steam will 
injure or stain a delicate, or colored fabric, let 
this curtain be of plain white scrim with a little 
edging of braid or embroidery. It must be 
taken down and washed and ironed often to 
keep it white and stiff. 

In ninety-nine out of a hundred households 
the medicine chest is kept in the bath-room. It 
is well to have this chest fitted with at least 
three shelves. The medicine cabinets with 
looking-glass doors are not expensive, and, if 
hung above the washstand, supply the double 
purpose of closet and mirror. In this cabinet 
it is well to have certain articles that may be 
called ^^ staples" in the way of drugs or aids 
in case of illness. If one must keep poisons in 
the house, — let them be on the upper shelf of 
the cabinet, in a corner by themselves. On this 
shelf should also go the bottles and boxes con- 
taining articles that are used only externally, — 



160 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

such as liniments, salves and ointments. If it 
is understood that there is not a remedy on the 
top shelf that is ever to be used internally, the 
danger of mistakes will be minimized. Even 
then, if there are in your family small children 
of an investigating turn of mind, put the pois- 
ons on the very top shelf of the highest closet 
that you have in your house. 

What I have spoken of as ** staples ^^ are the 
remedies that the layman can use, and knows 
how to use, and which may correct minor ail- 
ments or accidents, or give relief until the doc- 
tor arrives. Such are paregoric, camphor, 
aromatic spirits of ammonia, Jamaica ginger, 
sweet spirits of nitre. For external applica- 
tion have on hand arnica, witch hazel, some good 
liniment, camphor ice and vaseline. To these 
may be added any remedies that you know from 
experience to be good. But if there are bottles 
whose contents you do not know, throw them 
out. After an illness in my own family I found 
stored away in my medicine cabinet no less than 
five partially-emptied bottles, bearing prescrip- 
tion-numbers, but giving no clue to what these 
prescriptions were nor what kind of ailment 



THE BATH EOOM 161 

they were intended to relieve. Under such cir- 
cumstances the contents of the phials should be 
poured down the waste-pipe. To other articles 
in this closet add a small box of absorbent cot- 
ton, and several rolls of antiseptic gauze for 
bandages. One may not need these things for 
months, but when they are required it is a great 
convenience to have them within easy reach. 

While on the subject of the bath-room, I want 
to have a little talk with my sister-woman with 
regard to her skin, hair and figure, — for much 
of the attention requisite to keep them in good 
condition must be given them in this room. It 
is a matter for regret that in the pure country 
air, where a woman's skin should be at its best, 
it is so often neglected, darkened and rough. 
The farmer's wife has many more chances for 
the proper care of her personal appearance 
than has her city sister and yet she neglects this 
care. 

Of course it is necessary to have the inside 
of the body in good condition before the outside 
can look well, and I hope that the sensible 
women who read this chapter know enough to 
avoid foods that cause dyspepsia and to keep 



162 FROM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

the bodily functions regular and in good order, 
I have serious doubts as to whether they take as 
much exercise in the open air as they should, 
and during the winter months it is hard to bring 
one's self to do this day in and day out. When 
the thermometer is lingering near the zero 
mark, and the snow is above one's shoe-tops, a 
tramp along a country road does not sound in- 
viting. But establish the habit of this tramp, 
and dress for the occasion. Eubber boots are 
heavy, I know, and snow is hard to walk in. 
But console yourself with the comforting 
thought that you are getting just that much 
more exercise than you would if you walked the 
same distance in light shoes over a smooth road. 
Walk enough each day to make the blood course 
swiftly through your veins and to induce a 
slight perspiration. Eemember that this per- 
spiration is carrying the impurities from your 
skin. Add to this walk indoor exercises night 
and morning, just before you take your bath. 
At this time wear soft felt slippers, and a bath- 
robe over your night-gown as the room should 
be cool. A better plan still is to dress in a 



THE BATH EOOM 163 

loose flannel gymnasium suit, or in a suit of 
warm pajamas, and take the exercise with the 
window open. If you are keeping other people 
away from the bath-room while taking the time 
to do what one woman calls her ^^ stunts," do 
them in your own room, but always before you 
bathe. 

I can almost hear the busy woman sigh, — 
^ ^ But it is such a nuisance ! ' ^ Of course it is, — 
but it is also a bit of a nuisance to lose one's 
figure by the time one is forty, and to have a 
skin that makes one look at least fifteen years 
older than one really is. And the exercises I 
suggest will keep the muscles supple, and the 
figure from growing unwieldy. 

Stand erect, hold the chin as you would have 
to hold it if you had a book on your head and 
did not wish to drop it. Let the hands hang 
at the sides and rise upon the toes, then sink 
back upon the heels. Keep the chest thrown 
out, the stomach drawn in. Else on the toes 
fifteen times. Now, without touching any piece 
of furniture to steady yourself, stoop down, as 
you used to stoop when a small child and play- 



164 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

ing ^ * squat-tag/ ' Then, still without touching 
anything with the hands, rise to a standing posi- 
tion. 

This is difficult for one whose joints are a 
little stiff, so do it only three times at first. 
Now, with the hands on the hips, twist the body 
as far around above the waist-line as you can, 
keeping the legs stationary, and the heels to- 
gether. Twist as far as possible to the right 
side, then equally far to the left side. Do this 
five times, then bend over as low as you can on 
each side, repeating this movement five times. 
Now stretch the arms above the head, rising on 
tip-toe as if to reach something hanging above 
you, then, with the hands and arms still 
stretched out, bend forward and try to touch 
the floor in front of you with your finger-tips, 
keeping the knees perfectly stiff. Do this ten 
times. Lastly, lie at full length on the floor, 
hands and arms at sides, and try to raise your- 
self to a sitting posture without touching the 
arms or hands to the floor to assist you. At 
first you may not be able to do this, but after 
practice you can. Do this only three times. 
Another good exercise for the back is to lie so 



THE BATH EOOM 165 

that the toes may be slipped under the bottom 
of a bureau or other heavy article of furniture, 
thus making it impossible for the legs to be 
bent. Then draw yourself to a sitting posture. 
If you do these exercises near an open window, 
inflating the lungs with the pure air before each 
one, holding the breath while you could count 
ten, then expelling it slowly, you will find at the 
end of five or ten minutes that you are in a 
glow, and as warm as if you had been taking a 
brisk walk. When you become accustomed to 
the regimen it will not consume, at the outside, 
more than ten minutes night and morning, 
possibly not more than five. And the exercise 
will do you much more good than would those 
additional five minutes in bed. 

In the morning as soon as your gymnastics 
are completed, take a warm, — ^not hot, — bath,- 
followed by a cold spray. Soap the body 
thoroughly before getting into the tub and re- 
main there only a minute before turning on the 
cold spray, applying it, first of all, to the chest 
and throat, then directing it over each shoulder 
and down the back, then around the waist, down 
the legs, and, lastly, over each foot just before 



166 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

you step from the tub. Wipe the body very 
dry and rub briskly with a rough crash towel. 

If you want a very hot bath, it is well to have 
it at night, unless it stimulates you to wakeful- 
ness. As a rule it soothes and induces sleep. 
Do not take it of tener than two or three times 
a week! On other nights be satisiBed with a 
warm sponge-bath, and do not follow this with 
a cold spray. 

Some women like a cold plunge in the morn- 
ing, all through the year. If the skin reacts 
after this heroic treatment, and, as is some- 
times the case, the bather is in a warm glow be- 
fore she has finished drying herself, the treat- 
ment may be a comfortable one. In many 
cases it is a distinct shock, and does more harm 
than good. One must judge by her own sensa- 
tions as to whether the cold plunge suits her 
or not. She must also remember that while the 
cold plunge is often stimulating it is not cleans- 
ing, and must not take the place of the frequent 
bath in warm water. 

So much for the general care of the skin of 
the entire body. The face needs more particu- 
lar attention. 



THE BATH ROOM 167 

Unless your face is very dirty, — as it may 
be after a journey on a railroad that bums soft 
coal, do not wash it with soap. At night, rub 
into the skin a good cold cream, massage it in 
with the finger tips, smoothing out the lines, 
and stroking the face upward to discourage any 
dragging down or sagging of the muscles. At 
the end of several minutes wipe the face care- 
fully with a soft linen cloth, and you will be* 
amazed to see the dirt that comes off with the 
cream. Now put a little almond-meal, or if you 
have not that, a handful of oatmeal tied up in 
a small cheese-cloth bag, in a bowl of really 
warm water, and wash the face thoroughly. 
Last of all, dash over the face great handfuls 
of very cold water, and wipe dry, — always re- 
membering to wipe upward, not down. If you 
wish, you may rub in now a little more cold 
cream, removing the superfluous grease by pat- 
ting it lightly with a soft cloth. In the morn- 
ing, if the face feels at all greasy, wring out a 
cloth in warm water, wipe it off quickly, then 
wash immediately in very cold water. If the 
cream has not been used over-night, or has been 
absorbed by the skin, wash the face in cold 



168 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

water only. In cleansing it during the day, use 
only cold water. 

Of the making of face creams there is no end, 
but my advice would be to decide on one that 
suits the skin, and adhere to that. Avoid the 
use of any preparation containing mutton tal- 
low, lanolin, or other animal fats. Lanolin will 
promote the growth of hair on the face. As 
I said in another chapter, buttermilk is an ex- 
cellent cosmetic, softening and whitening the 
skin. The country-woman has at her disposal 
in summer one of the best of complexion beauti- 
fiers, as the juice from fresh cucumbers is ex- 
cellent for the skin. 

While manj people decry powder, there are 
times when its use is to be commended. If one 
is going on a dusty ride or drive, it protects the 
face. Someone says that the woman who uses 
powder simply fills her pores with white dust, 
but one might rather have the pores filled with 
a white dust than with a dirty grimy dust from 
the roads and cars. As one does not look well 
when obviously powdered, get a flesh-colored 
powder, — using only that made by a trust- 
worthy firm. A simple lotion of glycerine and 



THE BATH EOOM 169 

rose water can be applied to the face, which may 
then be powdered, before going out into the 
dust, hot sun or cutting wind. Brush the face 
off lightly after applying the powder, to dis- 
lodge any superfluous deposit on nose, chin or 
cheeks. 

The hands have been mentioned already 
when I urged the use of rubber gloves in doing 
housework. If the rubber gloves are not strong 
enough to suit the wearer, let her use a pair 
of her husband's or brother's discarded gloves. 
Do not wash the hands any oftener than is 
necessary, but when you do wash them, let it be 
thoroughly, adding a little powdered borax to 
the warm water in the basin. Einse in cold 
water, and partially dry the hands before rub- 
bing on them a glycerine-and-rose-water lotion. 
When this is well rubbed into the skin, wipe the 
hands very dry, actually polishing them to be 
sure that all moisture is removed. With the 
towel push the cuticle back from the base of the 
nails. If, in spite of judicious care, your hands 
are rough or red, rub into them on retiring a 
generous supply of your favorite cold cream. 
When it is nearly absorbed, apply to the hands 



170 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

a pure talcum powder, and rub this well into 
all the pores, adding more as it is needed. 
When the hands are well-coated with the tal- 
cum, draw on a pair of loose gloves and wear 
them until morning. 

The hair should be washed at least once 
every three weeks, — oftener, if it is inclined to 
be greasy. Rub two slightly beaten eggs well 
into the scalp, and, when the entire head is a 
mass of moisture, ^ ^ souse '^ it into a basin of 
water as hot as you can comfortably stand it. 
Wash the hair and scalp well, rubbing the 
latter hard with the finger-tips, then dip the 
head in another basinful of clear warm water. 
Repeat this process until the last water is clear. 
Now attach the spray to the cold water faucet 
of the tub, and, with your head under this, spray 
the scalp thoroughly with cold water. Wipe as 
dry as you can, then, if the weather is warm, 
go out into the sun and fresh air ajid dry your 
hair there. The country woman is fortunate in 
that she can do this without having a block-full 
of neighbors to inspect the process. If the 
weather is cold, be content to dry the hair in 



THE BATH ROOM 171 

the flood of sunlight pouring in through closed 
windows. 

Does all this advice seem out of place in a 
book on the care of the house, or on hints as to 
housekeeping and home-making! If so, my 
reader will forgive me when I say that one of 
my theories with regard to making the home 
pleasant is that everything in it should be as 
lovely to look at as time and purse will permit. 
And what can add more to the beauty of the 
house than to have the home-maker always at 
her comely best in health and appearance? 



CHAPTER XII 



THE GAERET 



To the average mind the garret and cobwebs 
are closely allied. Just to speak the name of the 
nnfinished space under the roof brings before 
the eye of the imagination a place in which lurk 
spiders, mice and all kinds of dust, — a room 
that is unbearably hot in summer, and bitterly 
cold in winter. 

It often deserves the prejudice that exists 
against it as a necessary and convenient evil. 
But it is the housekeeper herself that has made 
it what it is, — so far as its being a deposit-spot 
for the things that are not fit to be put any- 
where else, and a seldom- visited space which is 
covered with the dust of ages. 

The romantic attic in which there were trunks 
of dead and departed ancestors, filled with the 
brocades and satins of these richer-than-we 
forebears, exists only in novels. How I used 

172 



THE GAERET 173 

to long to see one! In my childish days I 
read the story of Ginevra, and to my imagi- 
nation the attic in which the great chest was 
found was like the one in onr own home, but I 
was discouraged in my hopes of discovering 
some thrilling family secret in one of our 
trunks when I learned that my mother had a 
sadly-modern idea that trunks should be 
opened and ^^gone through'^ each Spring and 
Autumn, and that our garret was swept regu- 
larly. Now to my housewifely spirit comes the 
wonder as to what kind of a housekeeper the 
mother of Ginevra must have been, that there 
should stand in her attic an unopened trunk 
for a whole life-time. In these days of fu- 
migation and vacuum-cleaning the poor, sti- 
fled little bride would have been undisturbed 
only until the time came around for the Spring 
house-cleaning. 

But, really, the garret should not have to 
wait even until that time to be swept. At 
least once a month it should be brushed out. 
In here, as well as in other parts of the house, 
it is easier in the long run if one will adopt the 
suggested motto of '^Keep Clean" rather than 



174 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

'^Get Clean/' Therefore the attic must be 
visited often with a broom and duster. The 
exertion will make it a pleasanter place in 
which to work when one must go there to get 
articles out of trunks, to pack away woolens, 
and to hunt up some stored-away bit of fur- 
niture. 

Few attics are finished with plaster. I 
wish that more were, for the boards and beams 
are fine lurking-places for wasps, hornets and 
mosquitoes, to say nothing of moth. Remem- 
bering this, when the ordeal known as house- 
cleaning takes place be sure to have the in- 
side of the attic roof swept off, taking care to 
penetrate all corners, and to poke into all 
crevices with a stiff brush. 

Divide your attic into imaginary sections. 
In one end, or corner, keep any furniture that 
you may have to store away. But let me beg 
of you to get rid of pieces that are past-worthy. 
As I advised with regard to the pictures in 
your home, do not keep, from a feeling of sen- 
timental association, a lot of unsightly rubbish. 
If you have any bits of really good furniture, 
made of oak or mahogany, or other hard wood, 



THE GAEEET 175 

and you hope some day to be able to have them 
^^done over'' into presentable articles, keep 
them carefully. But the cheap high chair that 
you bought for your first hopeful, and which 
he broke twenty years ago, need not be kept 
just because he used to sit in it. If he still 
lives, you have him, and it is really a bit fool- 
ish to cherish his broken chair. If, — and I 
say this with all seriousness, — he is dead, — do 
not keep an article that will mean a wrench 
of the heart every time you see it. May I lay 
special stress upon this advice? Have you 
not known, my reader, of trunks stowed away 
in the old home, trunks that hold the clothing 
of the dear ones gone to a better Home, — poor, 
pitiful little pieces of clothing, often riddled 
by moth and stained by time, — articles which 
we have not the courage to burn and which we 
also dread to keep? We do not need bits of 
cotton, wool and silk to remind us of those 
who are now clothed in fadeless beauty, — then 
why cherish these cast-off garments which only 
add pain to sorrow? In poetry the thought 
of the '^old arm chair" is all very well. It is 
also a beautiful thing to have the old arm chair 



176 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

if someone can enjoy sitting in it now. But, 
if it has fallen to pieces, if the wood is so soft 
and broken that it is beyond repair, burn it 
up. Do not keep an ugly, broken piece of lum- 
ber to remind you of a life that can never die. 

So, first of all, take from your garret all the 
things that have out-lived their beauty or their 
usefulness. When you have once determined 
that they can never, and will never, be used 
again in this world, give them decent cremation. 
One does not like to see Johnny's broken cra- 
dle, or Grandmother's discarded and crum- 
bling footstool on the wood-pile. It seems 
almost like desecration. Therefore it is well 
on some quiet day to build a hot fire at the foot 
of the garden and here lay gently all the things 
which have absolutely nothing but memories 
to commend them. They may go up in smoke ; 
the memories will always linger. If any of the 
furniture that may be used later has cloth up- 
holstery, brush this off carefully before con- 
signing it to the attic, cover the upholstery 
with camphor-balls, pin several thicknesses of 
stiff paper over this, and tack or sew un- 
bleached muslin over the paper. Otherwise, 



.9 



THE GAERET 177 

you are providing a warm breeding-place for 
that pest of the housewife, — moth. 

In arranging your furniture, set the larger 
pieces next the wall, the smallest towards the 
room. Then, if you want to find a certain ar- 
ticle, it will not be necessary to climb over, or 
pull out, heavy bureaus or wardrobes to reach 
a chair or table. 

In another part of the garret put the trunks 
that are left empty to be used by any members 
of the family who go away on a journey. 
There should be in every household several 
good trunks that are kept for this purpose only. 
I know that there are families in which this is 
not the rule, and when one wants to go away 
to spend a few days a trunk packed with 
woolens, or papers, or linen, must be unpacked, 
and its contents stored elsewhere, so that the 
would-be-traveler may have a receptacle in 
which to carry her wearing apparel. To avoid 
all this trouble, have at least two empty trunks 
always on hand. 

In other trunks stow away in winter such 
articles of summer clothing as are not kept in 
the closets of the owners. Nowadays, each 

12 



178 FROM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

woman has so many clothes that all her closet- 
room is usually needed for the garments which 
are used daily. Therefore when the late Fall 
days come it is well to pack in trunks the lawns, 
dimities, and other thin dresses that will not 
be needed until the trees bud again. 

In laying away white or wash-dresses many 
persons make the mistake of packing them 
down while slightly soiled, or of having them 
washed, starched and ironed before packing. 
Either plan is a mistake. To put away a 
soiled garment certainly is not cleanly, and the 
dirt will be much harder to remove after it has 
remained in the delicate fabric for a period of 
several months. On the other hand, a starched 
dress, when not used for months, has a ten- 
dency to turn yellow, and, besides needing 
washing in the Spring, will also need to be 
bleached before it is again pure white. The 
proper thing to do with what are known as 
^^tub dresses" is to have them washed perfectly 
clean, dried, and put away unstarched and un- 
ironed. When the warm weather comes, a 
rapid washing in soft water will make them 
ready for starching and pressing. 



THE GAERET 179 

Putting up the Winter clothing is a much 
more serious matter than packing away 
the thin clothes. The moth, who like his Sa- 
tanic majesty goes about seeking what he may 
devour, is always lurking somewhere in read- 
iness to make any woolen article his home. 
And as wool is not only his home, but his food, 
the damage he does is not to be treated lightly. 

Like other vermin, fresh air and sunshine 
are the bane of the clothes-moth. Therefore, 
before packing the winter clothing, throw open 
the garret windows and let in an abundance of 
fresh air and sunlight. Open wide and empty 
entirely the trunks destined to hold the wool- 
ens. With a whisk-broom brush out each re- 
ceptacle, then, with a cloth dipped in house- 
hold ammonia and wrung as dry as possible, 
wipe out all corners and creases. A cloth wet 
with gasoline is also good for this purpose, as 
the strong odor is distasteful to the insects. 
Eemember that the tiny eggs are hard to see, 
and that they will hatch surely in the dark- 
ness of the trunk unless they are removed. I 
wish that every housekeeper were the owner 
of a large cedar chest in which to keep valuable 



180 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

winter-garments. The odor of cedar is disa- 
greeable to moth, therefore a chest of cedar, or 
one lined with this wood, is especially adapted 
to the purpose for which it is made. Lacking 
this, a stout trunk or box is a good substitute. 

Another odor which the genus moth finds de- 
testable is that of turpentine. If you wish, 
you may sprinkle this in the bottom of your 
trunks. 

And now as to the treatment of the garments 
themselves. Choose a clear day and give up 
some hours to the task before you. Have the 
woolens and furs carried out to the veranda. 
Brush each garment well, sponging with house- 
hold ammonia any spots or obstinate dust- 
stains. Be sure to get each article thoroughly 
clean. Then hang on the clothes-line and, with 
a little switch, whip lightly, taking care not to 
have the strokes heavy enough to injure the 
fabric. Shake hard, and put back on the line, 
leaving the clothing in the fresh air for several 
hours. If you have many garments this will 
consume so much of the day that the packing 
must be deferred to the morrow. Lay the 
clothes over-night in a room which you know to 



THE GAREET 181 

be free from moth. The next morning, fold 
each article, sprinkling between the folds 
crashed camphor or camphor-balls, and pin it 
up securely in several thicknesses of news- 
paper. This is better than brown paper, as 
the moth are not fond of printer's ink. Buy a 
paper of strong and long pins for this purpose. 
Wrap each newspaper parcel in a stout piece 
of unbleached muslin, pinning this up se- 
curely. Our grandmothers used to sew up 
each bundle with stout thread. The pinning 
process is more rapid and does just as well, 
always supposing one uses enough of such pins 
as I have mentioned. Before laying down the 
parcel, write on the white cloth with a blue 
pencil just what it contains. In the Fall when 
you want to get out certain articles, you will 
find it a great convenience and saving of time 
if you do not have to open a half-dozen bundles 
before finding the one article you seek. 

When all the woolens are done up, carry them 
to the garret and stow them away in trunks. 
Have tacked inside of the cover of each trunk 
a list of the garments, etc., that it contains. 
This list can be made out readily by copying 



182 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

the ^inscription" upon each parcel. If your 
trunks are old or not tightly made, line each 
one with newspaper before packing, and, when 
all the garments are in, cover them with a large 
newspaper before closing the lid. 

Furs require somewhat the same treatment, 
— that is, they should be shaken and beaten in 
the open air, and left there for some hours. 
But it is well to put them in a box by them- 
selves so that the long hair does not become 
pressed or twisted. Smooth the fur muff or 
neck-piece, sprinkle with camphor, wrap it in 
tissue-paper, then in newspaper, and then in 
muslin. Lay in a paste-board box, and paste 
strips of stout muslin at the place where the 
edge of the cover comes, so that no moth can 
creep into the box. 

It is always troublesome to look for small 
woolen articles, — such as gloves, wristlets, or 
scarfs, — in a large trunk. One woman keeps 
a tin box, — (one of the kind that comes with 
ten pounds of crackers) — for these little things, 
wrapping each piece by itself, — except the 
gloves, which are put away in pairs. Indeed, 



THE GAEEET 183 

if one has large tin boxes to spare, they are 
excellent things in which to put furs. 

If one lifts her heavy rugs in Summer, lay- 
ing in their place those of cotton or matting, 
the winter floor-covering will have to go into 
the attic. The rugs must first be laid on the 
grass, and well-beaten, then swept hard, after 
which they may be sprinkled with an abundance 
of gasoline into which crushed gum camphor 
has been stirred. Now spread out each rug, 
lay over its surface a thin sheet of cheese-cloth, 
sprinkle this with camphor, and roll up the 
rug as you would a sheet of music, rolling the 
cheese-cloth cover with it. Wrap in newspa- 
pers, then in muslin, and lay in the garret. It 
is well to wash the floor where the rugs are to 
go with turpentine, to kill any moth or their 
eggs that may be in that region. 

One breeding place for moth is the family 
rag-bag or scrap-bag. Into this are stuffed 
all kinds of materials, among them many a 
scrap of woolen. Then the bag is hung in the 
hot garret and not disturbed for weeks at a 
time. What better home could the most fastid- 



184 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

ious moth want? The wise housewife will keep 
her rag-bag only for bits of muslin, cotton and 
silk, and even these should be looked over twice 
each year. For woolen scraps, which may be 
needed later, she should have a tin box such as 
has been already suggested, and should keep 
the contents liberally sprinkled with camphor- 
balls. 

Do not pile furniture or trunks against the 
attic windows. The passage to them should 
be free, and they should be thrown open fre- 
quently. The rooms below the attic will be 
much cooler in summer if the windows are 
often left open all night, when there is no 
threatening of rain. Moreover, wash the win- 
dows when they are dirty. I have never been 
able to understand why the otherwise careful 
housewife should allow the glass in the garret 
panes to become encrusted with dirt and cob- 
webs. The fact that nobody besides the family 
sees this dirt, makes it no less dirt. 

An inmate of the garret that should be ban- 
ished is the mouse. Here he revels. One can 
hear him scurry across the floor as one mounts 
the stairs. As he must eat, and there is no food 



THE GAEEET 185 

at hand, he will gnaw at the paste or mucilage 
on boxes and trunks, will run into the rag-bag 
to chew the starch from the bits of muslin or 
gingham in that, will gnaw the backs off any 
books that are packed up here, and will do all 
the damage that he knows how to do. Eats are 
even worse, for, as they are larger, their dep- 
redations are greater. If there is a good fam- 
ily cat on the premises, encourage her to make 
the garret her abiding-place at night. If she 
be taken up at bed-time, and a comfortable bit 
of carpet provided for her bed, she will soon 
acquire the habit of making this her lodging- 
place, and the rats and mice will decide to 
change their quarters. 

If, however, you have no cat, and do not 
want one, smear the rat-holes with tar. Do 
the same with the mouse-holes, — if you can find 
them. Once every two weeks set traps, baited 
with toasted cheese, for the mice. As there is 
little else for the rodents to eat in the garret, 
they will go into the traps. If you do this for 
two nights in sequence every fortnight you will 
greatly decrease the colony of mice. Eats are 
a more serious problem, but bread spread with 



186 FROM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

sugar mixed with some deadly poison will ban- 
ish them. But remember when you have put 
these bits of bread in the garret, and keep any 
pet-dog you may happen to have away from 
that place. 

After all, there is no other mouse or rat ex- 
terminator, as sure and safe as the first I sug- 
gested, — a big sleek house-cat who understands 
her business. 

Do not establish in your family what some- 
one calls ^^the garret-habit." This consists 
in relegating everythkig about which there is 
any doubt as to where it should be kept, to the 
attic. 

^^ Where are you going to put your skates my 
son?'^ asks the mother when the last vestige of 
ice has gone. 

^^In the attic!'' is the prompt reply. 

And when the summer goes, and she asks 
where the base-balls, bats, and tennis-raquets 
are going, the answer is the same — ^^In the 
attic!" The man of the house, in looking over 
his pipes or shoes, his books or shabby hats, 
has one reply to the question as to their desti- 
nation, — * ' Oh, up in the garret ! " 



THE GAEEET 187 

If this habit is established, stop it. It is a 
direct contradiction to the truth of the adage 
which asserts that ^^ there is a place for every- 
thing and everything in its place/ ^ I speak 
strongly, having had the experience of helping 
to clear out the attic in an old home which a 
friend was leaving. Never have I seen such a 
collection, — ^no, not in a junk-shop. Each 
member of the family had put up there every 
article which he or she had found in his or her 
way down-stairs. Through long years the 
careful house-mother had had these things 
dusted, wiped off carefully, and — put back. 
Surely she was a patient soul! Pictures, 
books, cushions, sleds, skates, games, shoes, 
slippers, hats, caps, vases, ink-stands, and, 
worst of all, letters! There was a mass of 
these, — all packed away neatly, to be sure, in 
boxes, marked with the name of the owner, — 
but yellowed by time, and gnawed by mice. As 
one gazed at the mass of them one knew why 
some people burn each letter as soon as it is 
answered. And what was to be done with the 
things? The persons who had put them there 
had forgotten they ever had them, — which is 



188 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

but a proof that it was a mistake to keep them 
in the first place. 

** Blessed be nothing!'' said a dear, elderly 
woman in my presence years ago. 

I smiled indulgently then, as she said it. It 
seemed strange that she should feel it a burden 
to have had to ^^go through'' the boxes in the 
attic in the home she had lived in for a half- 
century. She was the only one left there, and 
her remark was made after a morning among 
the mementos of dead and gone people- and 
years. 

^^And the letters!" she sighed, ^^What shall 
I do with the children's letters !" 

Her eyes filled with tears. Looking back 
now, I know what she felt. Those boxes of let- 
ters, — what needless heart-aches they mean! 
As one pulls a letter from the mass of yellowed 
envelopes in a box one filled ten years ago, a 
pet-name starts from the page, a single sen- 
tence leaps up before the eyes, and there is a 
constriction of the heart, and a grip at the 
heart-strings, a catch in the throat, and a pain 
that is actually physical causes one to gasp. 
For a moment all the changes that the years 



THE GAERET 189 

have brought gradually seem to face one, and 
one is overwhelmed at the realization of them 
all. 

Yet, — what can be done with the letters? 
Had the practical advice ^^Bnm them!'' been 
followed in all cases what a priceless legacy 
the world of literature would have missed! 
And in our own cases, when the letters we re- 
ceive are not from those who will ever be fa- 
mous, it hurts to destroy them. 

Once a dear one advised me to make a 
huge fire of the boxes of correspondence I had 
in my attic. I was moving from a country 
house into the city. Why, he argued, keep 
those epistles? He declared rightly that re- 
reading them was one of the most depressing 
tasks in the world; and, if one did not read 
them, of what use were they? 

So, setting my face like a flint, and holding 
my weak self well in hand, I burned the letters. 

Wise? Yes, — I suppose it was. But — I am 
not a rich woman, yet I would give a great deal 
if I could now have some of the dear letters I 
burned that day. 



CHAPTER XIII 

CLOSETS 

There are few better tests of the quality of 
one's housekeeping than the condition of the 
various closets. 

I do not believe that housekeeper exists who 
has too many of them. If she had her way, and 
it were practicable to have two closets for each 
room in the house, I think that the average 
woman would rejoice. If one has ever lived 
in a city apartment she will appreciate, as she 
never did before, the comfort of large pantries 
and wardrobes. The farmer's wife has such 
at her disposal, with an abundance of space 
that should give her many thrills of thankful- 
ness. We think almost with envy of the Colo- 
nial housekeepers who had closets as large as 
some of our present hall-bedrooms. Some of 
these were lighted by a good-sized window. No 
wonder the women of that day could afford to 
wear hoopskirts and voluminous and numerous 

190 



CLOSETS 191 

skirts, for they had some place to keep them 
without, crushing them. 

The clothes closets for the entire family are 
so much alike that they are not as interesting 
as are the linen and china cupboards, but they 
must be considered. The man's wardrobe is 
simple compared with a woman's, for his coat 
and trousers -hangers hold his clothing in the 
proper shape, and he has no frills and flounces 
to get crushed and mussed. But his closets 
must be watched carefully for any symptoms of 
the ubiquitous moth. Every few weeks take 
out the clothing, remove hats and boxes from 
the shelves, and brush out the comers. If 
there are any signs of the destructive insect, 
make a raid upon his haunts each week, inject- 
ing turpentine or gasoline freely into joints and 
cracks. Air and brush each article of clothing 
before replacing it. When one ceases to see 
moth or their eggs, once every month or six 
weeks will be often enough to inspect clothing 
and woodwork. 

It is a pity that a dust-proof closet has never 
been invented. Some housekeepers fasten a 
sheet over the clothing after this has been care- 



192 FEOM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

fully hung on the hooks provided for it. My 
experience with this curtain-arrangement is 
that it is a nuisance, — especially when one is 
in a hurry to find some particular garment. 
But if one must have a sheet or curtain, I would 
suggest the following plan. At each end of the 
closet have stout sockets screwed to the wall, 
and fit a small curtain-pole,— about as large 
round as your little finger, in these sockets. 
Have the pole of brass, as the rings 
slide on this more easily than on wood. 
Let the curtains be of some washable ma- 
terial, — such as cotton-cloth, or light cre- 
tonne. Sew the brass curtain-rings to 
this with stout linen thread, and put them 
quite close together. The curtains can then be 
kept closed all the time, except when one opens 
them to get out a garment. They certainly 
keep out the dust, but a tightly-fitting closet- 
door will do the same, — if people will only re- 
member to keep it closed. But if one neglects 
to do this, one will, in the same way, neglect to 
draw the curtains. One does not often pause 
to remember that a closet-door partly open is 
an evidence of carelessness and untidiness. 



CLOSETS 193 

The woman who keeps her bureau-drawers 
tightly closed, and considers it slovenly to 
leave them open, will have her wardrobe door 
ajar much of the time. She does not appre- 
ciate that when she does this her garments are 
absolutely unprotected from the dust that sifts 
through the room. 

And when dust gets into women's clothing 
it is not as easy to dislodge as when it gets on 
men's clothes. So it behooves the wearers to 
guard against it. For this purpose provide 
long bags for the light woolen or silk dresses, 
or for any gowns of delicate colors or fabric. 

A bag to cover an entire gown should be long 
enough to allow the garment to hang at full 
length. One must, of course, have a hanger. 
Slip the skirt over this, and shake it perfectly 
smooth, so that no wrinkles will be formed. 
Fit the waist on the hanger, fastening it so se- 
curely that it will not fall off. Now have some- 
one hold open the deep and wide bag while you 
lay the garments carefully into it, then draw 
the string about the top of the hanger and put 
the whole thing on a closet-hook. This is, how- 
ever, at best, such a troublesome process that 
13 



194 FROM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

I would like to tell of a scheme a friend evolved 
from an ancient garment. 

This woman had an old and large night-gown 
with a Dutch neck. One day when a light cos- 
tume came home she wanted to put it away, and 
yet had nothing to envelop it in. She remem- 
bered the old night-dress. She cut off the 
sleeves about three-quarters of the way up the 
arm, and sewed the edges of each remaining 
^ ^ stump '^ neatly together. On a hanger she 
fastened the dress in the usual way, then put 
over it the gown, just as if she were slipping it 
over the head of a human being. The hook of 
the hanger went through the Dutch neck, which 
was then drawn up closely with a draw-string 
and tied to this hook, so that it could not slip. 
The whole arrangement was hung in the closet, 
and, as the hem at the bottom of the gown fell 
several inches below the bottom of the dress 
skirt, the entire dress was protected. Never- 
theless my ingenious friend pinned the ^ two 
sides of the gown-bottom together with large 
safety-pins. 

From this improvised clothes-covering this 
woman got a new idea, and cut other dress- 



CLOSETS 195 

cases after the pattern of the old gown, omit- 
ting the sleeves, and making the shoulders very 
wide. The hem at the bottom of each case was 
fitted out with buttons and button-holes instead 
of with safety-pins. 

There are many styles of dress hangers, the 
pretty ones covered with a cushion of silk be- 
ing especially popular. These cushions may 
contain one's favorite sachet-powder. Waist- 
hangers have sometimes pretty muslin waist- 
envelopes which can be slipped over them, and 
these can be feather-stitched or embroidered 
with silk to match that of which the sachet-cush- 
ion is made. These are especially nice for light 
waists or for shirt-waists. 

It is well to keep one end of the closet for 
wash-dresses, the other for the heavier clothing. 
Divide the entire space into sections, if you 
would simplify the finding of any article with- 
out searching among a host of other garments. 
That is, on certain hooks at one end, put all 
underskirts, or other underwear; on others all 
wrappers and tea-gowns; still farther along 
hang dresses worn each day, and beyond these 
keep the coats and jackets. At the end farthest 



196 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

from the door hang the handsomest and least- 
used gowns. On the floor can be arranged the 
boots and shoes, while the shelf can hold the 
hats in boxes. 

One of the unpleasant facts that one disre- 
gards, — perhaps because it is unpleasant, — is 
that dresses worn in warm weather and put 
away when taken off give to the closet and 
its contents a very disagreeable odor. There- 
fore, when possible, let a dress hang over a 
chair near an open window for several hours 
before hanging it up with other garments. The 
dress taken off at night may be shaken, and 
left on a chair until the following morning. 
And yet, in spite of one's care along these lines, 
a closet will, especially in Summer, become 
close. Therefore take all the dresses out occa- 
sionally, open the door wide and leave it open 
until the stale air has time to get out and an 
abundance of fresh air to get in before re- 
hanging the clothing. 

The well-stocked linen-closet or linen-room 
is the pride of the housewifely heart. No man 
could understand the especial joy it gives his 
wife to look at her stacks of spotless bed and 



CLOSETS 197 

table-linen. Even if she keeps an excellent 
servant she should insist on putting away her 
own linen, and in handing it out when it is 
needed. Nobody else will take the care of it 
that the owner does. 

In another chapter we have spoken of the 
kinds of sheets which one may have. If you 
have linen ones, be, as I have already suggested, 
somewhat stingy about them. Have an abun- 
dance of muslin sheets, and two grades of these. 
Keep the finest for the use of the older mem- 
bers of the family, and for guests. Use on the 
children's beds a good quality, but not the very 
best. In the same way, have fine cambric or 
muslin pillow-slips for the youngsters, but re- 
serve those of handsome linen for persons who 
are past the pillow-fight age. 

Have each grade of sheets and pillow-cases 
in a pile by itself. Arrange towels in piles, 
putting all of one pattern in one stack. You 
will become so familiar with the positions of 
the various articles that after a while you can 
find the desired pillow-slip or towel in the dark. 
One thing I would like to lay stress upon is 
the excellent plan of putting single-bed sheets 



198 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

in one place, those for double-beds in another; 
large pillow-slips by themselves, small ones in 
their own comer. When one opens a sheet and 
throws it over a double bed, and finds that it 
is too narrow, one's temper is a bit strained; 
the same feeling is produced by trying to 
squeeze a big pillow into a small case. 

One should have sundry grades of towels. 

Always have some really handsome ones for 
the use of guests. These may be as elaborate 
as you desire, and if you have the time to 
embroider them with an effective letter or 
monogram, do so. Have still another grade 
for the grown persons in the household, and let 
these be as handsome as the others,- — if yt)u 
wish. But always have on hand numbers of 
good stout linen towels, that are not of the finest 
and most expensive grade. Huckaback is good 
toweling, and will wear better than will dam- 
ask for the use I suggest. Let the boys and 
girls of the family wipe their hands and faces 
on these useful towels. The small boy, ^^ wash- 
ing up^^ after playing in the dirt, petting the 
dogs, feeding the chickens, and helping harness 
the horses, will dip his hands in water, rub on 



CLOSETS 199 

the soap hastily, dip the grimy paws again in 
the water, rub the wet hands over his face, then 
bury face and hands in the immaculate linen 
towel. Any mother will testify that until a boy 
is sixteen, — sometimes after he is that age, — 
he washes himself in this way when called in 
to get ready for lunch or dinner. The result 
is that the towels he uses are spotted and dark- 
ened, looking somewhat like the maps of the 
mountains of the moon by the time they reach 
the wash-tub. To get them clean they must be 
rubbed on the board long and hard, and at the 
end of a few weeks fine damask subjected to 
this kind of treatment grows thin, and soon 
breaks forth in holes. For this reason get 
towels of rather coarse and heavy texture for 
every-day use. 

Do not, however (for what you feel to be rea- 
sons of economy), get small towels. They do 
not look nice, and they increase the size of the 
weekly washing, as two of them are required to 
do the work that one of good proportions would 
perform. Be sure to have enough of all grades 
so that you will not fall short in case of an 
emergency. 



200 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAKRET 

Years ago I had an experience that impressed 
my mind so that I have never forgotten it. I 
chanced to be calling on a woman whose house 
seemed to be neat and well-kept. I knew noth- 
ing of her husband ^s means, but I knew that the 
wife dressed handsomely, had two servants, 
and went in good society. While I was mak- 
ing the call of which I speak, my hostess was 
taken suddenly ill, and, as her frightened hus- 
band, helped by a servant and myself, carried 
her to her room, he begged that I remain with 
her. Of course I consented, and when the doc- 
tor came I carried out his orders until the nurse 
for whom he telephoned arrived. In doing this 
I was sent to the bath-room for clean towels. 
I found just two towels here — both soiled. The 
husband showed me the linen closet, but there 
were only two towels in there, — both torn. 
Hurrying downstairs I called the maid and 
asked her where I would find what I sought. 

^^Sure, ma'am, there ain't no more towels! 
There's eight in the wash, and the ironin' ain't 
done, and them upstairs makes the dozen ! ' ' 

Two grown people, and two servants in a 
household, — and but twelve towels! I think 



CLOSETS 201 

the housewife who reads these pages can im- 
agine what I thought. 

Well-stocked linen-shelves are evidence of the 
wife and mother who ^^ looks well after the 
ways of her household. '^ A plenty of towels 
are an essential to the properly regulated 
family. 

Marseilles quilts or bed-spreads are still 
used, but there are also many counterpanes of 
lighter weight that are as pretty and much more 
easy to handle, to wash and to iron. Dainty 
counterpanes of dimity are light and con- 
venient. Honeycomb spreads wear well, and 
have about them enough weight to be comfort- 
able when the nights are chilly. The heavy 
counterpanes that are used only in the daytime 
do not require frequent washing. The thin 
night-spreads must be changed as often as they 
become soiled. 

As to the table linen, — each housewife knows 
best what she needs. But here again I would 
advise,— have a plenty. Do not allow yourself 
to run short of napkins, but buy more before 
you need them. 

That is where the secret of a well-stocked 



202 FROM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

linen closet lies. Do not let anything get 
low before you purchase others. Watch for 
chances to buy cheaply. For instance, January 
is, in most city stores, the month of the ^^ great 
white sales." Make it your business at this 
time to buy enough towels to replace those that 
are getting thin in the center, although they 
may last for some weeks to come. If you see 
a ^^good bargain'' in table-linen, replenish your 
stock from this. You may not need a new din- 
ner-cloth or napkins just now, but will you not 
before the year is out? And when you do, you 
may not be able to get them as cheaply as at 
this special sale. One woman buys her linen 
once a year, — and that is during January. 
Then she always gets at least a dozen new 
towels, a set of large, and one of small, napkins, 
a tablecloth, several lunch and breakfast 
squares, and such doylies and centerpieces as 
she is sure she will want before another twelve- 
month. If one will establish this habit, and not 
depart from it, she will never have to buy new 
linen in large quantities. To do that is a great 
expense. 
It is cheaper to get dish-towels by the piece, 



CLOSETS 203 

and cut and hem them yourself. While one 
may wish her table-linen hemmed by hand, if 
possible, — do not waste precious time in hem- 
ming kitchen-towels by hand, but do them on 
the machine. 

Watch all your linen, and when it shows signs 
of wear, mend it, darning it neatly. Table- 
cloths carefully darned will last for many weeks 
longer than if allowed to get worn in holes be- 
fore mending. So before the hole comes, do 
the darning. 

Nearly every housewife knows how sheets 
can be '^ turned,^' so that the worn places that 
were in the middle will be at the sides. The 
sheet is simply cut in half up the middle, and 
the halves turned around, so that the two outer 
edges meet. These are sewed neatly and 
smoothly together, while the outside edges, that 
were once the center of the sheet, must be 
hemmed. A sheet with a seam up the middle 
may not look very pretty, but it is perfectly 
comfortable to lie on, and, if all of the sheet 
except the center is good and firm, it should not 
be cast aside as past-worthy. 

Towels that have begun to break into holes 



204 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

can sometimes be cut into squares and hemmed, 
then used for bathing the face. This is espe- 
cially true of crash bath-towels, which make ex- 
cellent wash-cloths. 

In buying wash-cloths, try to get a different 
pattern or design for each member of the fam- 
ily. One cloth may have a red border, another, 
a blue one; one person may have a crocheted 
square, another, one made of flannelette. This 
prevents confusion, and insures each one using 
his or her own. 

Do not throw away old linen. If one of your 
fine pillow-cases is worn out, never allow it to 
be used for dusters, floor-cloths, etc. Instead, 
fold it and lay it aside until you have time to 
cut or tear it into squares or strips for use in 
case of accident. A roll of bandages made of 
old linen is an unspeakable comfort when there 
is a cut or crushed finger, or a bum or bruise. 
Eeserve a corner of your linen closet for this 
old linen. In one family where there are many 
children the mother keeps the worn pillow-slips, 
and, when the winter influenzas arrive, she 
tears them into squares and the children use 
them in the house instead of handkerchiefs. 



CLOSETS 205 

As soon as they are soiled they are burned. 

On the floor of the linen closet may stand the 
mending basket, in which is laid each article 
that needs repairing. 

While on the subject of mending it may be 
well to warn the frugal housewife against a 
*^ penny wise and pound foolish'' policy prac- 
ticed, in the cause of economy, by many women. 
This consists in the mending and patching of 
garments that are really past their days of 
usefulness, and should be cast aside. The 
woman whose time is worth anything wastes 
it when she spends an hour or two in repairing 
a garment that may be worn but once or twice 
more. 

^^I can get another wear out of this,'' she 
says, and for the sake of that one wear she will 
spend several hours straining her eyes and 
nerves darning or piecing something that will 
not look well after all her work. Perhaps the 
first time she wears it the thin fabric breaks 
again, and is then gone beyond repair. One of 
the boys needs new underwear, and his mother 
expects to get it for him within a week or two. 
But it hurts her over-sensitive conscience not 



206 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

to mend the old garments as long as there is 
enough of them to hold together. One boy in- 
sists that with one pair of woolen drawers his 
mother ^^ built a new pair around the holes, '^ 
and yet that he ^^sat right through them'' the 
second day he wore them. Was it worth the 
time and trouble, when one considers that in 
less than a week the new imderwear had to be 
bought anyway? 

Do not think that I am belittling the art of 
repairing. I think it a necessity in every 
household, and I admire the woman who can 
make a garment last longer than it would or- 
dinarily, and who can turn sheets, darn linen, 
patch underwear, mend stockings, and make 
over clothes. 

A clever needle-woman showed me a gown 
that she had worn for six years, altering it with 
each season, and always making it pretty and 
tasteful. The material was handsome, and the 
result well worth the time expended on it. But 
when one pays twenty-five cents for a pair of 
school stockings, it is foolish to spend two-and- 
a-half-dollars ' worth of time in repairing them 
after they have been used for six months, and 



CLOSETS 207 

are a mass of darns from top to toe. By the 
time the small boy has worn them one day to 
school his knees will be through them, and all 
your labor will have been spent for naught. 

So, in mending, learn to discriminate between 
that which is worth saving, and that which 
should be discarded altogether. 

The mending basket is a thing of size and 
importance in a family where there are chil- 
dren. It is therefore well to train the young- 
sters to lay in this basket any garment as soon 
as it needs repairing. The stitch in time that 
saves nine is a considerable factor in a large 
household, and when multiplied by nine it as- 
sumes depressing proportions. When a but- 
ton comes off the child should put it in the 
button-box or bag, and lay the shirt or other 
garment from which the button came on the 
mending basket and tell the mother that this 
has been done. As soon as there is a little 
break in the stocking it should be removed be- 
fore it yawns into a mighty hole. A mother's 
pains and time are saved by these thoughtful 
acts on the part of the boys and girls. 

Even mending can become pleasant if done 



208 FEOM KITCHEN TO GABKET 

in agreeable company. Let the mother get in- 
to the habit of having her sewing brought into 
the living room on cool evenings, so that she 
can enjoy the pleasant chat, or, better still, can 
have husband, son or daughter read aloud 
while she sews. It is wonderful how all drudg- 
ery departs from work done under such cir- 
cumstances, how rapidly the fingers fly, and how 
the details of the story read are before the mind 
of the worker instead of the monotonous ^ ^ stitch, 
stitch, stitch. ' ' This monotony has done much 
towards putting women in the insane asy- 
lum. There is no surer way to get too much 
time for musing and introspection than to sit 
alone and quiet at one's sewing hour after 
hour. A clever novelist has said that if ever 
the hidden tragedies and secret sorrows in a 
woman's heart come to her face, it is when she 
sits solitary over monotonous sewing. Avoid 
this kind of thing, or, if you must be alone 
when you sew, force the thoughts into pleasant 
channels. In summer, take the mending basket 
out on the veranda. One is less likely to be- 
come depressed and moody out in the free and 
pure air. Above all, do not regard the work 



CLOSETS 209 

as drudgery. Think of each article of clothing 
that you repair as a bit of love-work that you 
do for the owner. The love that lightens all 
labor will lighten yours. 

Having shut the door of our linen closet, 
let us turn to another place equally dear to the 
housekeeper's heart, — the china and glass 
closet. 

Put on the shelves that are most easily 

reached the crockery used every day. At the 

back of the shelf tack a strip of wood, and 

stand the platters up behind this strip which 

will keep them from slipping. You can thus 

take out a platter that is needed without having 

to lift off several others that may be set upon 

it. Moreover, the dishes thus arranged are 

ornamental. Stack the plates of various sizes 

in separate piles, towards the back or end of 

a shelf, and put cups and saucers in front of 

them, or at one side. Glasses that are in daily 

use need not be inverted on the shelves, but 

those that are used seldom should be turned 

upside down that the dust may not settle in 

them. Vegetable dishes should be put in the 
14 



210 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

closet covered, for the same reason. Unless 
a plate lias been used within twenty-four hours, 
establish the habit of wiping it off with a soft 
cloth before putting it upon the table. You 
will be dismayed to see how soon the cloth be- 
comes grimy. In Summer, dust from the road 
sifts into the house, while in Winter the ashes 
from fires form an impalpable, but very real, 
deposit everywhere. Keep the largest and 
heaviest articles on the bottom shelves of your 
closet, and be sure that each shelf has a strong 
support which will stand a load of crockery. 

If you have a servant, you will have to keep 
a keen eye on your supply of china and glass. 
In the course of a long and varied existence 
I have had just one maid who would come to 
me of her own accord and tell me when she had 
broken an article. And this in spite of the fact 
that I never reproved a maid for a breakage, 
always urging her to tell me of an accident, and 
assuring her that I would not ^* scold.'' But 
it seems to be an instinct of the class to hide a 
bit of broken crockery as surely as it is the in- 
stinct of a dog to bury a bone. If you do not 
watch your shelves yourself, some day when 



CLOSETS 211 

you want a particular bit of china, it will be 
gone, and nobody will know anything about it. 
Or, when cleaning-day comes, it will be found 
tucked away out of sight in the highest and 
darkest corner of your pantry, and ^'nobody 
did it" will be the verdict. 

Why a maid that is truthful and honest in 
most things should deceive and falsify with re- 
gard to this one matter is incomprehensible, I 
do not pretend to explain, but I know it is a 
fact. 

Therefore, if you would know how your crock- 
ery stands wear, watch it yourself. Establish 
the habit of ^^ going through'^ the closet every 
week or two, and setting the contents to rights. 
If you have no maid you will not have to do this 
so often, for you will have the comfort of know- 
ing exactly what you have, and of being sure 
as to its condition. 

You are fortunate if you own a corner glass 
closet, with glass doors. If you do not, your 
village carpenter can make one with little out- 
lay or expense. In this closet you may keep, 
if you wish, your choicest bits of cut glass and 
your most delicate china. A strip of wood at 



212 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

the back of the shelves may form a support 
against which the plates can rest, standing on 
their edges, as has been suggested with regard 
to the meat platters. Small hooks may be 
screwed in the under side of the shelves, and 
from these you can hang your prettiest cups, 
while the saucers stand on the shelves under 
them. In fact, in this closet you can let your 
taste have free play, and make it as pretty and 
ornamental as you wish. 

It is fortunate for the modern housewife that 
it is no longer essential that all the china used 
on the table at one time should ^ ^ match. '^ 

A cup and saucer of one pattern, a plate of 
another, and a butter plate of still a third de- 
sign are considered the *^ proper thing" quite 
as much as are unbroken sets. So if a woman 
has a complete dinner or tea set, she is in fash- 
ion, but if her china has been gathered here 
and there, and at different times and places, she 
is still doing the correct thing in setting her 
table with as many different patterns as she 
possesses. Of course all the plates used for 
one course are alike, as are all the water- 
glasses set on the table for one meal, and all the 



CLOSETS 213 

cups match their saucers, but beyond that one 
may have as many colors and designs as she 
wishes. 

When a pet bit of china is broken, do not 
despair until you are sure that it cannot be 
mended. If your large platter or vegetable 
dish has ^^just come apart" in the hands of 
your maid, have the two pieces riveted firmly 
together by one who understands the art. You 
may buy excellent cement for mending china, 
but the trouble with most of these preparations 
is that they will soften when put into hot water, 
or when hot foods are placed in them. This is 
not so with the riveting process. To tell the 
truth, the riveted plate is often stronger than 
before it was broken. So take heart of grace, 
collect your broken china, — if it is valuable 
enough to be worth the mending, — and send it 
to the city to be repaired. Even heavy cut- 
glass bowls and dishes can be mended, and 
while they may not look as pretty as they did 
to your critical eye, the average beholder will 
not notice the rivets, especially when the bowl 
or dish has fruit, jelly or cream in it. 

But, when a thing is once broken beyond re- 



214 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

pair, throw it away, and as far away as possi- 
ble. Said one wise housewife: 

^^I wish when anyone breaks a saucer, she 
would deliberately break the cup directly after- 
wards. Then I would not have an unsightly 
and unpaired reminder of my loss always star- 
ing me in the face. It seems a sin to throw 
away a good cup, and yet one cannot put it on 
the table with a saucer that does not match. 
And a fine china cup cannot be used for meas- 
uring flour and sugar in the kitchen.'^ 

She was right. Many of us know the nui- 
sance of odd saucers and cups, and pitchers 
whose handles have been broken into many 
fragments. Yet we do not like to throw these 
away. But set your teeth, shut your eyes, and 
throw them away, — unless they can be used 
to hold a bit of butter, cream or gravy left over. 
Even then, they are a nuisance, for dainty 
crockery is out of place in the ice-chest. 
Therefore when your broken china offends your 
good taste and common sense, cast it from you. 

Do not cover your china closet shelves with 
oil-cloth. I know this is recommended by some 
housekeepers, but I have found that in hot and 



CLOSETS 215 

damp weather the oil-cloth sometimes becomes 
sticky, and the dishes adhere to it, and must be 
pulled hard to loosen then. Sometimes they 
stick so tenaciously that when the dish is taten 
up a bit of the coloring of the oil-cloth comes 
with it. So be content with shelf -papers, and 
change these often. Use plain white, as this 
harmonizes with china of all colors, and gives 
a fresh and dainty appearance to the entire 
closet. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE SERVANT IN THE HOUSE 

In most of my talks in this little volume I 
have taken it for granted that the housewives 
whom I addressed did their own work, — or a 
great part of it. I am, however, well aware 
that some of my readers keep at least one maid, 
and with them I would like to have a little chat. 
This chat might almost be called /^an experi- 
ence meeting," for I, too, have lived in the 
country, and have kept, — or tried to keep, — a 
maid ^^far from the madding crowd ^s ignoble 
strife," — or, in other words, far from the city 
and all the attractions that it holds for the 
average servant. 

The woman in town thinks she knows some- 
thing about trouble with servants, but her lot is 
easy compared with that of a farmer's wife. 
In town there is always the employment agency 
to which one can turn for help, there are always 

216 




<D 

ft 
P5 



THE SEEVANT IN THE HOUSE 217 

numbers of women who go out to work by the 
day, and there are the advertising columns of 
the newspapers. One may not secure what one 
wants, but one can usually get a woman who 
will serve as a ^^ stop-gap" until one can look 
about and get son^thing better. 

Not so in country homes. In the village it- 
self can be found very few girls who will enter 
domestic service in the place where they were 
bom and raised. They prefer to go to the city, 
or to the nearest factory, rather than occupy 
what they consider a ^^ menial position'^ in any 
family. One may find a woman who will go out 
by the day, but she is such a rarity if she works 
well, that she has as many engagements as has 
any popular society belle. And when she does 
consent, for a consideration of dollars and 
cents, to do your washing and ironing, she has 
the air of royalty stooping to confer a favor 
upon an inferior. Blessed is the housewife 
who has a sense of humor under such condi- 
tions ! 

Last Summer a city visitor to a country-town 
asked the name of a good laundress. She was 
given the address of the best worker in the vil- 



218 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

lage, and, packing several skirts and shirt- 
waists in a bag, she sent them to the laundress 
by her chauffeur. When the man reached the 
house he sought, the door was opened by the 
laundress herself. 

^^Here," he said, holding out the bag, *^are 
a few things which Mrs. D., who is visiting Mrs. 
L., wants washed. She would like to know 
when she can get them back.'' 

The much-sought-after laundress drew her- 
self to her full height and eyed him scornfully. 

^^Take those things," — ^with a majestic 
wave of her hand worthy of Mrs. Wilfer, — 
**back to the person who sent them. I am not 
acquainted with Mrs. D. !" 

To persuade this woman (who would accept 
the highest prices) to do her work, Mrs. D., 
should, herself, have called at the door, intro- 
duced herself, chatted for a moment about the 
weather, told her hostess ( !) some of the 
complimentary remarks she had heard made 
about her work, and then, with due humility, 
have asked her if she thought she could ^^make 
time to wash a few articles that were rather 
fine in texture, and should, therefore, be done 



THE SERVANT IN THE HOUSE 219 

up by someone who was used to handling nice 
things and understood her business.'^ 

With such a preamble our city guest might 
have won a patronizing, — ^' Well, I don't know 
but what I may as well try to do 'em," after 
which she would have been charged the most ex- 
tortionate of prices for work that would have 
been only passably well done. 

This sounds like exaggeration, but I know 
whereof I speak, for I have had similar experi- 
ences, until I have felt as if I were begging for 
my daily bread when I have asked a woman to 
come to my home to wash and iron, or do house- 
work. 

Therefore, unless the village near which our 
farmer's wife dwells has some inhabitants who 
want to go into domestic service, I would sug- 
gest that my reader would do well to get her 
servants from the nearest city. And this, too, 
is a task that is fraught with difficulties. 

The uneducated woman living in the city 
does not want to live in the country. We de- 
plore this fact, and, looking at it from our own 
standpoint, we speak of her as foolish, lacking 
in appreciation of a good home, or blind to the 



220 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

beauties of nature. "We tell of how we have 
taken into our pretty, well-kept, airy and com- 
fortable houses girls from the slums, who have 
no proper food, who sleep in dark rooms, and 
live in crowded tenements ; and yet these same 
girls have been dissatisfied, averred that they 
were ^'dreadful lonesome in the country" and, 
after a week or so, have insisted on going back 
to the ^^pit from whence they were digged." 
And we call it unnatural, insane. 

But is it ? Stop a moment, and consider the 
case. 

Let us suppose that you live in a small 
country village, surrounded by your own fam- 
ily and friends ; you have a tiny home, many pri- 
vations, and few luxuries. But you have the 
life to which you have become accustomed ; you 
have your own special friends and neighbors; 
you and they have your social joys in common. 
One day an offer comes to you to go to a place 
where you have never been before, where you 
are to be in the employ of persons of whom you 
know nothing. You go, and find yourself in a 
large and comfortable home; you are well-fed, 
well-lodged and kindly treated. But there is 



THE SERVANT IN THE HOUSE 221 

not a person there who knows anything about 
you or your family; you are cut off entirely 
from all your old associates; you have only 
your work to do, and then are allowed to rest, or 
to walk along country roads looking at things in 
which you see no beauty, and which bore you 
to extinction. 

Eight here I must remind my reader that the 
fact that you could endure such an existence is 
because you are educated to see beauties in na- 
ture, because you love to read, because you 
have been taught to think of what is worth 
while. Not so with our hypothetical domestic. 
She never reads anything deeper than the para- 
graphs beneath the ^ * scare-heads ' ^ in the daily 
papers, and then with some difficulty; she has 
never known that the mind can be a kingdom, — 
(how should she?) — while the glories of a sun- 
set on the distant hills are nothing more to her 
unseeing eye than a splash of color, and not 
nearly as interesting as the gaudy posters 
pasted on the fences of vacant lots in the city. 
There is some action in those ! Therefore, you 
must suppose that in this comfortable home to 
which you have gone to work, you may not read. 



222 FROM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

or see the things you love, or think great 
thoughts, — because you have never learned 
how. Moreover you are there simply as the 
machine to do another's bidding. A well cared- 
for machine, to be sure, but nothing more. 
Would you not, at the end of a week of such an 
existence, plead to go back to the little village 
home, with all its discomforts, but where you 
will be surrounded by those who love you, and 
where you can enjoy the pleasures of which you 
have always been a part? Before we condemn 
the city girl for dreading the country, let us 
remember that view of the case. 

Let us remember, also that she can secure in 
the city ^^ places'' in apartments or houses in 
which the work is reduced to the easiest lines 
possible, — where a turn of a handle or switch 
lights her kitchen fire for her, where the ice, 
and milk, and bread are brought direct to her 
hand ; where, if a dessert is wanted in a hurry, 
it can be procured from the nearest pastry- 
cook's shop, and where — best of all — on her 
afternoon or evening ^' out "she may, in a half- 
hour after she leaves her comfortable ^* place," 



THE SERVANT IN THE HOUSE 223 

be at the door of her own home and among her 
own kind. Theatres, dances, gossip and 
church, are all where she can get them. 

The last mentioned attraction, — church, — 
means much to the Eoman Catholic maid when 
she thinks of a place in the country, and the 
housewife who lives where there is no Roman 
Catholic church, would best make up her mind 
that the domestics she engages must be Protest- 
ants, — as even the smallest country village 
can, as a rule, boast at least one Protestant 
place of worship. 

Still, in spite of all the drawbacks I have 
mentioned, there are servants who are willing 
to go to the country. Sometimes they really 
like the rural life. Some of them have lived, 
in childhood, in villages, and the glamour lin- 
gers. Others, perhaps too old to care any 
longer for the city bustle and gayety, love the 
country quiet. Our farmer's wife is fortunate 
if she can secure such a person. Sometimes, 
however, she is driven to get what our grand- 
mothers used to call *^a bound-girP' from 
some institution. Once in a great while this 



224 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

arrangement is a success ; of tener there is only 
one party to the contract more miserable than 
the girl, and that is her mistress. 

In engaging a servant one must bear one fact 
in mind : if one cannot pay good wages, one 
cannot expect the best work. Certainly one 
cannot demand it. If a housekeeper gets a 
girl who is so ignorant of her business that she 
is willing to come for one-half as much money 
as a competent servant would demand, she may 
know that she will have to supplement her at 
all points. Therefore, if you can pay good 
wages, do so, and exact correspondingly good 
service; if not, do not complain that poor 
wages call forth only indifferent service. 

But whatever you pay, remember that, after 
all, Dinah or Gretchen, Bridget or Ilulda, is 
a human being, and treat her as such. Make 
it your business to see that her room is com- 
fortable and pleasantly furnished, that she has 
her afternoon and evening off once in so often 
just as if she were in town, and that, when the 
work is unusually heavy, she has a ^^liff 
from some member of the family. You may 
think that she has nowhere to go in the even- 



THE SERVANT IN THE HOUSE 225 

ings, and therefore consider it unnecessary to 
set aside the customary one night a week. But 
the time is hers, to do with as she pleases. 
Even if she only wishes to go up to her room 
and sew, read, or go to bed, you should make it 
possible for her to do this. Your part of the 
contract demands that the time be given her; 
what she does with it is her affair only. 

The maid's room must be well ventilated, and 
she must be reminded to keep it clean, if, as is 
probable, she shows a tendency to neglect it. 
Have an iron or white enameled bed, with 
good springs and mattress for the maid, and 
see that the blankets are warm enough in cold 
weather, and that she is as comfortable as you 
can make her. Avoid all kinds of ^^fussy'^ 
articles in this apartment, and yet make it at- 
tractive by its bright, clean aspect. The bu- 
reau may be of cheap material, painted white ; 
have the floor varnished or stained in a light 
color, and lay a washable rug in front of the 
bureau, and a strip of carpet, bound at each 
end, in front of the bed. A good washstand for 
this room is one of the light iron affairs, with 

a ring for holding the bowl and pitcher, and 
15 



226 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

another smaller ring in which the soap-dish 
fits. A towel-rack screwed to the wall is above 
this. Have a special set of towels for this 
room, and a supply of wash-cloths. At the 
windows hang plain muslin curtains. Many- 
servants take pride in making their rooms 
pretty, and if your maid shows a disposi- 
tion to put pictures and photographs about her 
little retreat, encourage her to do so, and com- 
ment favorably on the result of her efforts. 

To avoid future misunderstandings, settle 
definitely with a maid when you engage her 
what her duties are to be. Here lies the secret 
of smooth living later. If there are any draw- 
backs to the situation, — such as a lack of mod- 
ern improvements in your home, tell her so at 
this time. State the number of persons in the 
family, whether you entertain a great deal, etc. 
If you attend to the care of the bedrooms each 
morning, leaving the sweeping of these 
apartments to the servants, inform her 
of this fact, making her comprehend 
that you do not include the sweeping in your 
share of the work. These may seem trifling 
matters now, but they are well worth mention- 



THE SERVANT IN THE HOUSE 227 

ing if one would live at peace with one's maid. 
State what the privileges, and afternoons and 
evenings ^^out/' are to be ; also find out if she is 
a church-attendant, and if the denomination of 
the sacred edifice near your home is one that 
will suit her, and arrange as to the hour at 
which she shall attend service each Sunday. 

Never engage a maid without a satisfactory 
reference. I am tempted to italicize that bit of 
advice. By a ^'satisfactory reference" I do 
not mean one that is written in a good hand, 
stating that the bearer lived in the writer's 
service and is honest, sober, etc. Such recom- 
mendations are often written by some friend of 
the bearer. If possible, have what is known as 
^'a personal reference." This consists of a per- 
sonal conversation with a former employer of 
the maid you would engage. When distance 
makes this impracticable, secure the address 
of such an employer, and write direct to her. 
If you are in doubt as to whether the address 
given is really that of an ex-mistress or of a 
friend of the applicant, take some means of as- 
certaining the truth, — by communicating with 
some trustworthy person in the town from 



228 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

which the letter comes. Only one who has suf- 
fered from the results of taking a maid without 
a reference can appreciate how necessary such 
precautions are. 

The routine of a general housework maid 
may be somewhat as follows: She must get up 
in the morning in time to have a good fire made 
in the range, so that breakfast may be served 
promptly at the hour set for it. In the homes 
where the first repast of the day is a simple 
one, the cereal may be cooked the day before, 
and warmed over for breakfast. This is usual- 
ly preceded or accompanied by fruit, and fol- 
lowed by eggs and toast, — or hot breads, — and 
coffee. Such a meal takes very little time to 
prepare, and, unless it is served very early, the 
maid will have time before the family assemble 
at the table, — (perhaps while waiting for the 
kettle to boil or the biscuits to bake), — to brush 
out the hall and sweep off the veranda. If she 
wishes, the breakfast-table may be set over- 
night, and the corners of the cloth turned up 
over the dishes to protect them from dust. 

When the family are assembled at the table, 
and the last course brought in from the kitchen, 



THE SEEVANT IN THE HOUSE 229 

tlie maid should be allowed to go upstairs to 
look after the bedrooms. If the housekeeper 
and her daughters make their own beds, the 
maid will only have to empty the slops, wash 
out the toilet-sets, and carry fresh water to 
the various bedrooms. As soon as this is done, 
she may descend to the dining-room, remove 
the breakfast, and, after reheating her own, eat 
it. In warm weather, when flies are prevalent, 
it is well for her to clear all the dishes from 
the dining-room, and darken it, as soon as she 
comes down-stairs. After she has her own 
breakfast she should wash the dishes, air, 
sweep and dust the dining-room, put the dishes 
away, and darken the room again. It is a kind 
thing for the housekeeper to urge the maid-of- 
all-work to take a cup of coffee before going up 
to the bed-rooms, or as soon as she has the 
kettle boiling, as some persons find it difficult to 
work with an empty stomach. 

One cannot make general rules fit particular 
cases, as each housewife has her own ideas as 
to how the tasks for various days should be ar- 
ranged. It is safe to assert, however, that in 
the well-regulated household the bedrooms, — » 



230 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

(including the maid's, which she must attend 
to herself), — should be in order, the downstairs 
rooms dusted, and dining-room and pantry 
work completed by half after ten or eleven 
o'clock. Where dinner is served at night, the 
noon-day meal need not be an elaborate one, — 
unless the housewife is willing to lend a hand 
in its preparation. 

On Monday and Tuesday, if the maid does 
the laundry-work, the bedrooms may be at- 
tended to entirely by the members of the fam- 
ily, and, in many homes, the mother and daugh- 
ters wash the dishes, and set the luncheon-table. 
This expedites that bugbear of the home, — the 
washing and ironing. On Monday and Tues- 
day one will, of course, be careful to have food 
that requires little time and labor. If desserts 
are to be made, they may be something that the 
house-mother can prepare quickly and easily 
so that she may not interfere with the laundry- 
work. 

The worst part of this laundry-work is the 
washing, for one is dependent upon the weather 
to accomplish it promptly. It is different with 
the ironing, for when the clothes are once dried 



THE SEEVANT IN THE HOUSE 231 

it will do no harm if all cannot be ironed in one 
day, and some of them can be laid aside with 
safety until Wednesday. This day is reserved 
in many households for the ^4eft-overs^' of the 
ironing, and for the cleaning of the silver. 
Thursday is sometimes baking-day, sometimes 
cleaning-day, although Friday is the one day 
that is almost universally set aside for the 
sweeping of the various rooms. If one likes 
this plan I do not want to interfere with it, but 
my experience makes me think that it is better 
to have one or two rooms swept as one may 
find time for it during other days of the week, 
thus relieving Friday of some of its burden of 
work. 

Teach a maid-of-all-work to wait on the din- 
ner-table properly, but do not make it more 
difficult than necessary. The soup may be on 
the table when the family comes to dinner, and, 
while they are eating this, the maid may dish 
the meat and vegetables. She then removes 
the soup-plates and replaces these by warmed 
dinner-plates, after which she sets the meat in 
front of the carver and the vegetables on the 
side-table, to be passed by her after the meat is 



232 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

served. Or, if preferred, the vegetables may be 
set on the table, one member of the family pre- 
siding at each of the dishes. This is the old- 
fashioned method, and simplifies matters when 
a maid is not proficient or rapid in waiting. 
This course finished, the maid removes the 
meat-dish, then the vegetables, last of all the 
plates, taking two of these at a time, instead of 
piling them on top of each other. Never allow 
the plates to be ^^ scraped'' or emptied into one 
another in the dining-room. The maid now 
takes all the articles from the table, except the 
glasses and napkin-rings, and brushes the 
crumbs from the cloth. For this purpose, have 
a tray or a plate and a small napkin, — ^never a 
brush. A dessert-plate is now put at each place, 
and the dessert brought in and passed, or set 
before the mother of the family, who serves it, 
handing each plate to the waitress who sets it 
in front of the person for whom it is intended, 
returning to her mistress with an empty plate. 
When the dessert has been eaten, the coffee, in 
small after-dinner cups, is served, after which 
the maid may go to the kitchen and get her own 
dinner. 



THE SEEVANT IN THE HOUSE 233 

When a servant once learns to do the waiting 
properly, it is no more difficult than it would be 
for her to serve things in a slapdash manner. 

Of course at luncheon on washing and iron- 
ing days, the members of the family may wait 
on themselves. 

The dusting of the parlors generally falls to 
some one of the daughters or to the mother, but 
the regular sweeping must be done by the serv- 
ant once a week. On other days the carpet 
sweeper may be run over the rugs or carpets, 
and a soft brush used to brush out the corners 
and surfaces of hard-wood floors. 

The appearance of the maid-of-all-work is to 
be considered, and she must always look neat. 
Even when cooking, a wash-dress, covered with 
a gingham apron, may be worn, and looks well, 
as it is the proper garb at such a time. But 
there must always be a large white apron at 
hand to slip on when the maid attends the door 
or goes to wait on the table. When her 
dinner is cooked, she may lay aside the ging- 
ham and don the white apron. Insist on this, 
and it soon becomes a habit. In the afternoon 
and evening, the maid may wear a black skirt 



234 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

and waist of sateen, as this can be washed 
easily. Or, the skirt may be of wool, but 
should be black, with a washable black waist. 
The white aprons with bibs and straps are 
pretty and inexpensive* If a maid takes a 
proper pride in her appearance, she will bestow 
especial care on the washing and ironing of 
her own aprons. If she is untidy, I have no 
hope to offer to her mistress of ever altering 
her habits. I have had in my employ maids 
who were naturally neat, and who, under all 
circumstances, were tidy in appearance. 
Others were neat only when a special occasion, 
such as expected company, made them ashamed 
to be otherwise. "When a servant appears, even 
in her kitchen, with a torn skirt, a soiled apron 
and a waist burst out under the arms, she is at 
heart slovenly, and the best that you can hope 
is that she will not appear at the door to admit 
guests until she has made herself presentable. 
But, when you are away from home, she 
probably will answer the door-bell exactly as 
she is. 

If a maid does take some pride in her ap- 
pearance, encourage her by remarking on her 



THE SEEVANT IN THE HOUSE 235 

trim and neat looks. Get her pretty aprons, and 
give her an occasional present of dainty collars 
and cuffs. I hope she will not want to wear 
lace-trimmed shirt-waists in waiting on the 
table! If she does, firmly but gently ask her 
to save her elaborate garments for her days 
out. If she has not the proper feeling with 
regard to her position she may resent this, 
— ^but you are in the right. Marcel 
waves, gigantic pompadours, laces and finery 
are as much out of place when the servant is at 
her duties, as your evening-gown would be 
when you are running your sewing-machine. 
The neat uniform worn by the self-respecting 
maid, — a wash-dress and white apron in the 
morning, and the black dress, white apron and 
cuffs in the afternoon, — is no more a ^^ badge of 
inferiority'' as some call it, than is the uni- 
form worn by the trained nurse when on duty. 

A just consideration for each other and a 
proper respect for themselves will make the re- 
lation of mistress and maid what it should be. 
When a maid resents your orders or gentle re- 
proofs, or when you find her so wearing to your 
nerves that you complain about her to your 



236 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

friends, — it is time for you and her to part. 
Many a servant has been kept too long. She 
becomes spoiled, — and it is the fault of the mis- 
tress who has let personal liking for and over- 
indulgence of a servant blind her to a sense of 
justice, and has made what should be a kindly 
business relationship a matter of feeling and 
favor. When this point is reached, it is too 
late to reform. Let the maid go, do not blame 
her but yourself, and, taking a lesson from 
the book of experience, try again, and beware 
of making a second mistake. 

For, deny it as we may, a favorite maid is 
always an error. You may feel that she is 
worthy of consideration, but that does not mean 
that you are to let yourself become dependent 
upon her. Above all, do not judge her as you 
would one of your own class. It is unkind to 
her to do so. Her standards are different. 
What you would call a lack of consideration on 
her part, is but thoughtlessness ; what you might 
consider disobedience, is but forgetfulness. 
Do her justice, credit her with having the best 
intentions, and always be kind. But do not 
let her gain such a hold on your feelings that 



THE SERVANT IN THE HOUSE 237 

you are depressed if she sulks, and angry when 
she pouts. Do not reprove unless you know 
you should, then do it gently, and stand by the 
consequences. It is better to have your serv- 
ant leave than for her to make you unhappy; 
it is better to do your own work, than to sacri- 
fice your self-respect by truckling to your maid, 
and fearing to correct her when she does 
wrong. In this relation, as in many others, re- 
member always, that ^^ nothing'' — ^no, not the 
best servant in the world, — ^4s worth the sacri- 
fice of thy peace.'' 

And, after all, it is not an affliction to lose 
one's maid. There are many worse things 
than doing one's own work, — especially when 
one can do it in one's own way. One of Mrs. 
Whitney's heroines congratulates herself on 
her ability to stir the custard she is cooking 
with a silver spoon, because there is no maid 
to be contaminated by the example, and ^^ use 
a silver spoon to take up the ashes." Surely 
there is much in that thought, and a woman is 
never quite so much queen of her own house 
as when she is mistress of nobody but herself. 



CHAPTER XV 

HOUSE-CLEANING 

The very thought of house-cleaning fills the 
average man with dismay. One masculine de- 
clares that he will not go to see his sisters while 
the semi-annual war against dirt is raging. 
He insists that he steps into a pail of suds at 
the front door, and tumbles over brooms, 
sweepers and brushes in every room in the 
house. He feels, like Noah^s dove of old, that 
he has not a dry place to set the sole of his foot. 

There is no need of all this upheaval. 
Women too often make a burden to their fami- 
lies of their desire to have their houses clean. 
This is a laudable aspiration, but when carried 
too far does as much harm as would the arch- 
enemy to housewifery, — dirt. I know one 
home in which, during the dreadful week given 
up to '^ cleaning,'^ there is not a room that is 
not turned inside-out. Meals are as plain and 

. 238 



HOUSE-CLEANING 239 

scanty as compatible with sustaining existence, 
and in the whole domain there is not a quiet 
and comfortable corner in which one can crawl 
for rest. Best! The very word causes in- 
dignation in the breast of the wife and mother. 
Does she get any rest? she demands, while 
the cleaning is in progress? Since she must be 
tired out, and since she must wear herself down 
scrubbing and sweeping and scouring, — why 
should not the remainder of the family have 
their share of the discomfort? 

This is a selfish doctrine, and one that leads 
to rebellion on the part of husband and sons. 
In the first place, there is no reason for the 
general upheaval; and if there were reason for 
it, why should all of the household suffer for 
it? 

No, to look at the matter calmly and sanely, 
the old-fashioned period of scrubbing, sweep- 
ing, scouring and — suffering — is unnecessary. 

^^But must we not clean our houses anv 

%> 

more?" asks the particular housewife. 

Certainly we must. Even if you have adopted 
the plan of which I have spoken often of 
''keeping clean rather than getting clean," 



240 FROM KITCHEN TO GAERET 

there must once or twice each year be a time for 
going over the entire house and setting every- 
thing to rights. But do not attempt to do it 
all at once. Take one room at a time. A wife 
who had this habit was much amused at hearing 
her husband remark: 

^'Mother used to clean house every Spring 
and Fall. It was dreadful, and I hated it. But 
my wife never cleans house, — and we have been 
married for three years,— and yet our home 
is always neat. That shows that house-clean- 
ing is not necessary, *' he added, triumphantly. 

The blessed masculine did not know what had 
happened, because he had not seen it. But 
every Spring and Fall since he took unto him- 
self a wife his house had been cleaned. 

The secret of performing this disagreeable 
task with little disturbance is to do one room 
at a time. Do not determine to get it all done 
in one week, but take it leisurely, and quietly. 

I would suggest that you begin on the top- 
floor, — that is, in the attic. This is a good 
time to attack the rubbish, and, as I have al- 
ready suggested, to throw out the useless 
articles. Even if you have tried all the year 



HOUSE-CLEANING 241 

to keep nothing that is ^^ trash" this will ac- 
cumulate in spite of your efforts. Odds and 
ends of lawn and silk, left by the dressmaker 
when she was here, old newspapers, rolls of 
wrapping paper, etc., will be found. Sort all 
these out, and throw away that which you will 
never use. If you have a yard or two of silk 
left from your Spring gown, you will not need 
those triangular scraps of the material, none 
of them measuring more than two by three 
inches. Burn them without a qualm. 

What shall be done with the newspapers is a 
question. One housewife keeps them all, tied 
together in bundles of a hundred or so, stacked 
in her attic. I used to smile at her thrift, but 
when I moved into town, and wanted papers 
for packing china and cooking utensils, the ridi- 
culed bundles were a saving clause to one who 
lived far from packers and excelsior. There 
are many things besides packing for which the 
papers are useful. Laid in several thicknesses, 
they make excellent carpet-linings; folded 
smoothly, half-a-dozen layers of them form 
satisfactory stair-pads under the stair-carpet. 
When grease is spilt on the kitchen floor, a 

i6 



242 FROM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

mass of crumpled newspaper will absorb it 
quickly, and will make work with the floor-cloth 
easy. Where fires must be kindled frequently, 
one cannot afford to throw away the newspa- 
pers. So, if one has an abundance of room, 
follow the habit of the frugal housewife re- 
ferred to, and tie the papers in bundles and 
stack away in the attic. In the chapter on the 
Garret I have already given advice as to clean- 
ing this often-neglected apartment, so will say 
no more about it, except to repeat the warning 
already uttered, — do not allow ruhhish to ac- 
cumulate there. 

Attack one bedroom at a time. If there are 
daughters in the family, each of them can do 
much of the cleaning of her own room. If you 
keep no servant I hope that you save time and 
strength by engaging a strong woman to come 
in and do the rough part of the work, — such 
as scrubbing the floors, washing the windows, 
shaking rugs, and taking up and putting down 
carpets. Fortunately, in this day, tacked-down 
carpets are not as universal as they used to be, 
but some homes still have them. If yours is 
one of these, have the carpet lifted, beaten, and 



HOUSE-CLEANING 243 

re-laid in one day, if possible. At all events, 
attend to one carpet before taking up another. 
While the floor-covering is hanging out on the 
line or is lying on the grass after a vigorous 
beating with stout switches, have the floor of 
the room well-scrubbed with water in which 
ammonia has been stirred. Open all the win- 
dows so that the wood will dry rapidly. When 
dry, inject insect powder into the cracks in the 
floor if you have reason to suspect moths in the 
room. Take down all pictures and wipe off 
the glasses with a damp cloth. After the side- 
walls and ceiling have been dusted, wash the 
base-board, and behind this spray gasoline, if 
you want to make sure of destroying all insects^ 
eggs. 

A little kerosene added to the water in which 
windows are washed will add to their brilliancy. 
If windows must be cleaned in freezing 
weather, a little alcohol stirred into the water 
will keep the moisture from solidifying on the 
panes. Old newspapers are excellent for giv- 
ing the final polish to windows or mirrors. If 
chandeliers and gilt picture-frames have be- 
come fly-specked, wipe them with a cloth wrung 



244 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

out in kerosene, then with a dry piece of flannel. 
As the furniture, — or most of it, — must be set 
out in the hall during the cleaning of the room, 
have all articles wiped off with a slightly damp- 
ened cloth, and upholstery and cushions brushed 
before returning them to their proper places. 
The woodwork of the doors and molding will, of 
course, be cleaned before the carpet is re-laid. 
Unless you have regular carpet-lining, cover 
the floor with newspapers, laid smoothly, and 
lay the carpet over these. 

If the floor covering has become worn, it may 
be shifted about so that the worn bits will come 
under bureau or bed, or the breadths may be 
ripped apart and turned around. Still another 
device for making a worn carpet last longer is 
to lay a small rug or two over the thin or 
darned portions. Ingrain carpets may be 
turned when faded on the upper side, as the 
pattern on the under side is always as present- 
able as that on the upper. But, as carpets are 
such a nuisance, I would suggest that when 
those you have are absolutely past-worthy you 
put rugs in their places. 

Take down the curtains from the various 



HOUSE-CLEANING 245 

windows, but do not have them hung again until 
all the rooms are cleaned, then, when the 
draperies have been freshly laundered, they 
may be re-hung throughout the entire house. 

One of the dustiest bits of work connected 
with house-cleaning is the brushing off of books 
and bookshelves. It is well, therefore, to do 
this work first of all, before beginning to clean 
the other parts of the rooms. 

In cleaning the lower rooms, have all the 
books carried out on the veranda to be dusted. 
This is somewhat of an effort, but where there 
are numbers of volumes, as I hope there are in 
your living-room or library, this plan prevents 
much breathing of irritating particles. The at- 
mosphere of the room in which books are 
cleaned becomes dust-laden, and this dust set- 
tles thickly on polished furniture and floors 
long after you think that it has disappeared 
never to return. Wipe each volume carefully, 
after opening it, flirting the leaves, and slam- 
ming it shut several times. 

The cleaning of the dining-room is a more 
lengthy piece of work, — unless the dishes have 
been wiped off frequently. Even then, plates 



246 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

and glasses that are reserved for special oc- 
casions will need wiping or washing. If you 
keep a maid, they will undoubtedly need to be 
washed. The same may be said of the pans 
and pots in kitchen and pantry. Certainly the 
shelves must be scrubbed, and clean papers 
must replace those that are soiled. If, how- 
ever, care has been exercised in the kitchen, so 
that each utensil, as soon as used, has been 
thoroughly cleansed, and put away dry, the 
housewife will not have a hard time in her semi- 
annual cleaning of the premises. But, unless 
this has been done, she will be appalled at the 
accumulation of dust and grease on her agate 
and tin-ware, and at the rust on her iron pots 
and pans. To remove the grease, pour into the 
encrusted utensil boiling water and add to this 
ammonia and washing-soda, then set at the side 
of the range to simmer for a few moments. 
This will loosen the particles of grease so that 
they may be removed readily. If pots are 
scorched and blackened on the bottom, try 
scraping the stain off with a bit of emery or 
pumice stone. If burned through, throw the 
pot away, unless it is of a ware that can be 



HOUSE-CLEANING 247 

mended by your local tinsmith. To remove 
rust from iron, soak the article in kerosene 
over-night, then wash and scrub in the usual 
way. 

As we have said elsewhere, house-cleaning 
is a necessity, but, in housekeeping as in the 
world of morals one reaps what one sows. If 
a housekeeper has kept a watchful eye on all 
departments of her menage, has done her own 
work as well as she knows how, or has inspected 
regularly and systematically the work done by 
her hirelings, the semi-annual cleaning will be 
a simple thing compared with what it will be if 
she has ^4et well enough alone, '^ has allowed 
dirt to accumulate, or walked by faith in her 
servants, rather than by sight for herself into 
the true condition of affairs. 



CHAPTEE XVI 

^*THE SOUL OF WEALTH'^ 

Although we began our talks with the 
kitchen, it may, perhaps, be as well for us to 
wander back to it at the end of this little vol- 
ume. For in this day of high prices what to 
cook in that kitchen is a problem to the house- 
wife who would set before her family food that 
is palatable, nourishing and economical. 

As I said before, it is the business of the 
housewife to make a study of this matter. 
What is pleasant to the taste is not, as some 
housekeepers seem to think, of necessity an ex- 
travagance; nor does the fact that a thing is 
not toothsome make it any more economical 
than are quail and mushrooms. Yet there are 
women who seem to think that anything which 
will ^^ fill up" the stomachs of husband and chil- 
dren must be nourishing. The other day a 
woman told me of a soup which she said she 
gave to her hungry children when they hurried 

248 



^^THE SOUL OF WEALTH'' 249 

home from school for the noon-day meal. ^^At 
this time of year/' she explained, ^'vegetables 
are high, and meat-prices are dreadful. And 
yet the youngsters must be fed, so I give them 
what I call 'Mock Clam Broth.' " 

''Clam broth is nourishing," I remarked. 

"Yes, but this is not made of clams. I have 
it when we have had fish-cakes for breakfast. 
I save the water in which I boil the salt 
codfish, strain it, add to it enough milk to make 
it look white, then thicken it with flour, just as I 
would any cream soup. Then I sprinkle a little 
parsley over the top, and give it very hot to the 
children." 

I checked the protest that rose to my lips. 
She certainly put something into the children's 
stomachs, but as to giving them nourishment, — 
she might just as well have given them crackers 
and water. And yet she prided herself upon 
having combined nourishment with economy ! 

Another woman says that while meat is so 
high she gives her family a pork pie. She 
makes "^a light and rich pastry," boils salt 
pork, and after lining a deep pie-dish with the 
pastry fills it with the boiled pork, and bakes 



250 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAREET 

it. If she would buy a flank steak, put it 
through her meat-grinder, and make it into 
meat-balls, then fry* these in dripping to a 
good brown, (the interior remaining tender and 
juicy,) she would be more economical, and the 
result would be palatable and nourishing. Pie 
crust, when light and flakey, is expensive ; when 
tough and cheap, it is not fit to eat. 

Our farmer's wife needs to learn the potenti- 
alities of the stock-pot. It is one of the most 
valuable adjuncts to nourishing and cheap 
food. To start it, put into a large pot a mar- 
row bone, well-cracked, a pound of lean coarse 
beef, cut small, a pound of coarse veal, chopped, 
a carrot, an onion, a turnip, and any other veg- 
etables you can spare — one or two of each. 
Add two gallons of cold water, set at the side 
of the range and cover closely. Allow the 
water to simmer for at least six hours, season 
with salt and pepper, take from the fire, and 
turn into an earthenware pot, — unless the 
stock-pot itself is of granite or agate-ware. 
Set aside until very cold before taking the fat 
off the surface of the liquid, and straining out 
the vegetables. This liquid is the stock, and 



^^THE SOUL OF WEALTH'' 251 

many different kinds of soup can be made from 
it. Set it every day or two at the side of the 
fire, and add any bits of raw meat, or trim- 
mings that you have, and boil up again. It is 
surprising how many nourishing bits that could 
not be used for other purposes can be put into 
this pot. A spoonful of a vegetable left in the 
dish after a meal, the trimmings from the roast 
that was cooked for dinner, the tough bit of 
steak left on the platter, — all add to the nour- 
ishing qualities of the stock, and all add as well 
to the flavor. Each time it is boiled after the 
addition of any fatty substance, it must be 
cooled and skimmed before using. In cold 
weather this liquid will keep for many days, 
and you may add to it the water in which rice 
was boiled, or the liquid from the various veg- 
etables cooked — (except potatoes). When you 
want to make soup, take from the pot as much 
liquid as you need, and add a few vegetables, 
minced, or a cup of strained tomatoes and a 
tablespoonful of rice; or a cup of split pease, 
soaked for several hours, and boil until the soup 
reaches the stage at which you wish to serve it. 
I have gone thus into details for the benefit 



252 FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET 

of our farmer's wife, for with her soup is often 
a rarity, or, when made, is a greasy, tasteless 
liquid. With a stock such as I have described, 
her broths will be nourishing and economical. 

While on the subject of soups, I would like 
to call my reader's attention to the fact that 
when she has her own vegetables and all the 
milk from her own cow, she has opportunity to 
make what is always popular, — cream soups. 
Cream of celery, of corn, of lettuce, of toma- 
toes, of potatoes, of turnips, will cost her little 
and will nourish her family. Soups and broths 
are certainly economical, as there is so much 
nutriment in them when properly prepared that 
they make the eating of much meat after their 
consumption unnecessary, and blunt the keen 
edge of the men's and children's appetites. So 
have broths, pureess, etc., instead of so much 
salt pork, and so much pastry. 

I do not know why farmers should eat so 
much pie. It is not cheap, it is not digestible, 
and it does not make bone and muscle. Why 
not have in its place for desserts some of the 
good things that can be made of milk? When 
eggs are abundant there are the many kinds of 



ii 



THE SOUL OF WEALTH" 253 



custards to be prepared, but even when eggs 
are too scarce to be used freely, one nearly al- 
ways has pure milk, and with this one can pre- 
pare tender junkets of various flavors, — corn- 
starch and rice puddings, not to mention bread 
and cracker-crumb puddings. 

As to meat, in too many country-homes pork 
in some form, — but especially salt pork, — is the 
staple. There is sometimes sufficient reason 
for this. One has one's own pigs, and when 
these are killed and salted down the meat will 
last all winter. But I have observed that even 
when the country-dweller has to buy his own 
salt pork, he still eats it. It is cheap, I grant, 
but it is less nourishing than beef. It would 
be better not to have meat quite so often, and 
to vary the species. There are excellent sub- 
stitutes for meat, — if one has eggs and cheese. 
The housekeeper does not need to be reminded 
of the hundred and one different ways of cook- 
ing eggs, but she may not know of the tooth- 
some dishes of which cheese is the basis, which, 
when served, will take the place of meat of any 
kind. Try laying slices of cheese on slices of 
crustless bread, putting them in layers in a 



254 FEOM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

deep pudding-dish, then fill the dish with 
slightly salted milk into which two beaten eggs 
have been whipped, bake to a light brown 
souffle, and serve immediately. I am not in- 
tending to give recipes, or cooking-directions, 
only suggesting one or two cheap and palatable 
and very satisfactory substitutes for salt pork 
and pies. 

When one must economize, there are many 
odds and ends that can be saved which the aver- 
age housewife thinks well-nigh useless. I have 
spoken of the stock-pot as the refuge for the 
odds and ends of bits of meat and vegetables, — 
which are too small to be cooked in any other 
way and too good to be thrown away. But 
there are other foods and many non-eatables 
which are worth saving. 

One woman saves all her flour-sacks, washes 
them out, and sews them together for sheets to 
throw over the furniture when sweeping; an- 
other, sews small sugar-bags together for floor- 
cloths ; a wise mother tries out and purifies her 
mutton-fat and pours it into small tins to cool, 
after beating into it a little camphor. When 
hardened, she turns it out and wraps it in 



*^THE SOUL OF WEALTH'' 255 

waxed paper to be used as camphor ice. It will 
cure chapping of the hands or lips in a single 
night, and is invaluable in the house where 
there are children. A young girl saves each 
tiny bit of toilet-soap that is too small to be 
used alone, puts all into a cheese-cloth bag, 
and uses this in her bath instead of soap. It 
makes a fine lather, and costs little or noth- 
ing, yet is composed of the best quality of 
fancy soap. A farmer's wife makes her 
iron holders of the legs of old stockings, tacked 
together and folded square. Many house- 
wives have learned that there are ways to 
use stale bread-crumbs besides making them 
into bread-puddings, — ^good as these are. A 
pan containing all the odds and ends of 
bread and rolls and crackers may be set 
in the open oven until very dry, then put 
through the meat grinder, or rolled fine, and 
put away in a tin box to be used in ^thread- 
ing" articles for frying. Beef dripping, tried 
out, is often as good for frying certain things 
as butter would be, — and the left-over slice of 
fried bacon, if minced and added to some dish, 
will give it a delicious flavor that is not its own. 



256 FROM KITCHEN TO GAEEET 

Bits of cheese too small to send to the table can 
be ground or grated, and put in a glass-jar to be 
used for cheese-puffs, macaroni, sauces, etc. A 
certain frugal housewife grinds her bits of 
cheese, puts the fine crumbs on thin crackers, 
sprinkles them lightly with salt and paprika, 
and sets them in the oven long enough to melt 
the cheese. When friends come to call in the 
afternoon they are served with five o'clock tea 
and these delicious cheese-crackers, — better 
than any that can be bought. 

Tea-leaves should be squeezed dry and put 
into a tin can until one is ready to sweep, then 
sprinkled over rugs or carpets to lay the dust. 
Candle-ends may be used to kindle the fires, as, 
when they melt and run over the wood, they 
cause it to blaze briskly. In a home where 
there are hard-wood floors, the candle ends that 
are too small to use as lights are scraped very 
fine, and this wax is sprinkled over the polished 
floors, th-en rubbed in with a cloth bound firmly 
about the feet. In other words, the polisher 
^^ slides'^ or ^'skates'' about the floor, thus rub- 
bing in the wax with the flannel fastened over 
the soles of his shoes. 



^^THE SOUL OF WEALTH'^ 257 

*^But how trifling and small it is to bother 
about such little savings!'' some woman may 
exclaim. 

Is it? Is anything too small that adds to the 
welfare or comfort of any human being? 
Then, how much more important are the odds 
and ends that make for comfort in a household. 
The trifle you save to-day may not seem to 
make much difference, but, when every day 
adds another trifle saved, it adds also to the 
number of pennies saved by the end of the year, 
and the wife and mother owes such care to 
the husband whose money she must spend, and 
to the children whom that money must educate. 
Do not, then, hesitate to be very careful. De- 
spise stinginess, — ^the meanness that makes one 
grudge what others use legitimately, what 
others eat and drink and wear. But economy 
is not stinginess. When all have been served 
abundantly from the table that you prepare for 
them, do not despise to ^'gather up the frag- 
ments that remain, that nothing be lost.'' 

Waste is always vulgar ; economy never is. 

THE END 



INDEX 



Afternoon tea, 84. 
Airing clothes, 190. 
Almond meal, 167. 
Ants, 27-28. 
Ashes, 56-57. 

B 

Bandages, 161, 204. 

Bath, 165, 166. 

Bath-room furnishings, 157- 

159. 
Beds, 89, 90, 114, 132, 133, 

134, 201. 
Bed-bugs, 104-108. 
Bed-making, 96-97. 
Bed-room furnishings, 89, 98- 

99, 100. 
Beef-drippings, 255. 
Bibs (feeding), 67. 
Bolsters, 93. 
Books, 115-117, 245. 
Book-shelves, 82-83, 137, 245. 
Boots and shoes, 196. 
" Bound girl," 223. 
Box-couch, 148. 
Boys' room furniture, 143. 
Breakfast, 228. 
Bric-a-brac, 78-79. 



Broken china, 210, 211, 213, 

214. 
Buttermilk, 44, 168. 



Camphor, 181. 
Camphor-ice, 254. 
Candle-ends, 256. 
Carpets, 242, 243, 244. 
Cat, 185. 

Cedar chest, 179, 180. 
Cellar structure, 46, 47, 56. 
Cellar shelves, 48, 55. 
Centet-table, 83. 
Chamber-work, 96, 99, 100, 

229. 
Chandeliers, 243. 
Chapped hands and lips, 255. 
Cheese, 253, 256. 
Children's diet, 137-140. 
China, 61-64, 209, 214. 
China closet, 209. 
City maid in country, 219- 

223. 
Cleaning, 21, 156, 173, 238- 

247. 
Clothes-closets, 102-103, 190- 

191, 195, 196. 
Clothing, 177-183, 191. 



259 



\ / \ 



260 



INDEX 



Coal-bin, 47. 
Cold cream, 167, 168. 
Company, 7, 8. 
Complexion, 44, 167. 
Country laundress, 217, 219. 
Crumbs, 255. 
Cucumbers, 168. 
"Curios," 147. 
Curtains, '244-245. 

D 

"Days out," 224, 225. 

Darning, 203. 

Decorations for boys' room, 

146, 149, 150. 
Desserts, 252-253. 
Dietetics, 43-45. 
Dining-room, 229, 245. 
Dining-room furniture, 58, 

59, 65, 67. 
Dining table, 66, 68. 
Dishes, 61-64, 209, 214. 
Dish-towels, 202. 
Dish washing, 62-64. 
Dress-coverings, 193, 194, 195. 
Dressing-table, 101, 102, 131. 
Drinking-water, 54. 

E 

Eggs, 253. 

Emergency shelf, 39-41. 
Engaging a maid, 226-229. 
Exercise, 162-165. 

F 

Family fare, 8. 

Farmhouse hospitality, 112- 
114. 



Feather bed, 95. 
Fire-irons, 72. 
Fire-places, 71-73. 
" Fixing " colors before wash- 
ing, 32. 
Flank steak, 250. 
Flies, 25-26, 68. 
Floor-cloths, 254. 
Flour-sacks, 254. 
Flowers, in the house, 9, 65. 
Fly-paper, 68. 
Food, 248-254. 
Fruits, 43, 47, 52-53, 55. 
Frying-pan, 41-42. 
Furnace, 56. 
Furs, 182. 



Garbage, 24. 

Garret, 172. 

" Garret-habit," 186, 187. 

Gasoline, 107, 179. 

Ginevra, 173. 

Glasses, 209. 

Glass closet, 211, 212. 

Guest-room beds, 114, 119. 

Guest-room closet, 115. 

Guest-room decorations, 117- 

118. 
Guest-room desk, 115. 
Guest-room drawers, 115. 
Gymnastics, 163. 

H 

Hair, 170, 171. 
Hands (care of), 169-170. 
Hanging clothing, 195. 
Hardwood floors, 256. 



INDEX 



261 



Health, 44-45. 
House-cleaning, 238. 
Hygiene of the nursery, 124. 



Ice, 49, 50, 53, 55. 
Ice-box, 47, 48. 
Insects, 174. 
Iron-holders, 255. 
Ironing, 31, 230, 231. 



Jellies, 55, 56. 

K 

Kitchen floor, 11, 16. 
Kitchen furniture, 15-20. 
Kitchen range, 22. 
Kitchen towels, 36, 38. 
Kitchen utensils, 16, 20, 21^ 

34-36. 
Kitchen windows, 19, 24. 



Mice, 184, 185. 
Mosquitoes, 108-109. 
Moth, 179-184. 
Mouse-traps, 185. 

N 

Napkins, 61, 201. 
Newspapers, 241-242, 243. 
Nursery fittings, 133-137. 
Nursery temperature, 123, 

124. 
Nursery windows, 125-127. 

O 

Oil cloth, 215. 
Old furniture, 175, 176. 
Old letters, 188, 189. 
Old linen, 204. 
Out-door meals, 86-87. 
Overheating, 123. 



Laundry-work, 29-33. 
Linen, 9, 61, 67, 197, 201, 202. 
Linen closet, 196, 197. 
Linoleum, 12. 
Living-room furniture, 75. 
Lotion, 169. 

M 

Matting, 99, 128. 
Mattress-cover, 94, 95. 
Meat-grinder, 17, 255. 
Medicines, 159, 160. 
Mending, 203, 205-208. 



Pantry, 34. 

Pictures, 79-80, 82, 136. 
Picture-frames, 243. 
Pie, 250, 252. 
Pillows, 93, 133. 
Pillow-slips, 197, 198. 
Poisons, 106, 159, 160, 186. 
Pork, 41, 44, 249, 253. 
Pots and pans, 246. 
Powder, 168. 
Preserves, 55. 
Provision-buying, 38. 
" Putting up " woolens, etc., 
179-183. 



262 



INDEX 



R 

Rag-bag, 183. 

Rats, 185. 

References (of servants), 227, 

228. 
" Relics," 80-82, 175. 
Riveting, 213. 

Rocking the Baby, 134-135. 
Rubbish, 174, 176, 242. 
Rugs, 9, 14, 58, 59, 99, 129, 

149, 157, 183. 

S 

Screens, 86, 90, 132. 
Screens (wire), 25, 26, 56, 

68. 
Servant's dress, 233-235. 
Servant's duties, 226, 228-233. 
Servant's room, 225. 
Setting the table, 212. 
Sewing, 208. 
Shampoo, 170. 
Sheets, 98, 197, 198, 203. 
Shoe-box, 102. 
Silver, 59, 63, 64. 
Sink, 20. 

Skin (care of), 161, 167. 
Soiled clothes receptacles, 103, 

104. 
Soaking clothes, 29. 
Sound-cloth, 62. 
Soups, 252. 
Stock-pot, 250-251. 
Summer clothes ( packing 

away), 178. 
Supper (children's), 141. 
Sweeping, 65, 174, 231, 256. 



Sweeping sheets, 254. 
System, 6. 

T 

Table-mats, 67, 68. 
Tea-leaves, 25. 
Tea-table, 84, 85. 
Tea-tray, 85. 
Tobacco-smoke, 76. 
Toilet-set, 99, 100, 130. 
Towels, 100, 198, 201, 225. 
Toys, 135. 
" Trash," 241. 
Trunks, 177, 178. 
Trunk-lounge, 135, 136. 
Tubs, 20. 
Turpentine, 180. 

V 

Vegetables, 47, 52, 55. 
Ventilation, 90, 91, 92, 96, 125. 
Veranda furniture, 85-86. 

W 
Wages, 224. 

Waiting on table, 231-233. 
Wash-cloths, 204, 2£3. 
Washing and Ironing days, 

230, 233. 
Washing dish-towels, 38. 
Washing pots and pans, 37, 

246. 
Washing windows, 184, 243. 
Washing woolens, 31. 
Washstand, 99, 100, 157. 
Water-closet, 157. 
Wood-bin, 47. 
Working-gloves, 22, 37, 64, 

169. 



JUL 7 WO 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




006 929 903 9 



